NEWBERRY - An exciting afternoon of softball at the Smith Road Complex saw both games come down to the final out, as the Newberry Wolves and Queens Royals split a pair of one-run games on Wednesday.

Newberry took a 2-1 extra inning victory in the opener before the visiting Royals earned a 3-2 win in the second game.

With the split, Newberry is now 26-17 overall and 10-6 in South Atlantic Conference action, sitting in a three-way tie for second place two games behind the Wolves' next opponent - Carson-Newman. The Wolves and Eagles will square off in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday in Jefferson City, Tenn.

Queens is now 10-28 overall and 5-11 in the league. Remarkably, with only 11 days left in the regular season, no team has clinched a spot in the top eight for the season-ending South Atlantic Conference tournament. Likewise, no team has been eliminated from contention. The top eight teams in the league at the end of the regular season qualify for tournament play.

Game One: Newberry 2, Queens 1 (8 innings)
Newberry broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the sixth and saw the Royals tie the game up in the seventh before using a mistake by the visitors to earn the 2-1 victory in extra innings.

The first true chance for either team to score came in the bottom of the third on singles by Maude McCourry (Centreville, Md.), Cassie Harrell (Williamston, N.C.) and Ashlen Ayres (Kennewick, Wash.) to load the bases with one out, but the Wolves left the bases loaded and were unable to convert.

Newberry stranded four runners on base and two runners thrown out on the basepaths in the first five innings, but a sparkling pitching performance by McCourry kept the chances to win alive. In the first six innings, the Royals reached base on four hits and two walks, but five runners were stranded and one was thrown out.

Gabby Bedard (Winder, Ga.) gave the Wolves life with a leadoff triple down the right field line to open the bottom of the sixth and a hard hit single through the left side by Mallory Gerndt (Burke, Va.) gave Newberry a 1-0 lead.

The Wolves were one out away from a shutout, but a bases loaded single by Whitney Britt tied the game. Newberry was unable to score in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game to extra innings.

Queens' international tiebreaker runner moved to third on the early sacrifice bunt, but was erased in a rundown following a missed bunt attempt, nullifying chances for the Royals to score.

Newberry looked to be in a similar situation in its half of the eighth, but Ayres came home to score the winning run on a wayward throw by the Royals' catcher after a fielder's choice.

McCourry went 8.0 innings for the complete game win, moving to 9-3 on the year, allowing one run on seven hits and three walks, striking out two. Ann Dee Priest (Douglasville, Ga.) was the only player with multiple hits in the contest, going 2-for-3.

Game Two: Queens 3, Newberry 2
A late error in the seventh inning erased a Newberry lead, as two unearned runs in the final frame allowed the Royals to pick up the split.

Newberry opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on an RBI infield single by Priest following a Jeri Loffler (Weeki Wachee, Fla.) double. The inning looked to have ended on a groundout earlier in Gerndt's at bat, but an illegal pitch turned into a walk and the first run of the game.

A two-out RBI single in the third by QU's Elaina Frantellizzi tied the game. Newberry had runners on second and third in the fifth inning but couldn't take advantage.

Newberry regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth with one out, as McCourry battled back from a deficit in the count and hammered an opposite field solo homer to put Newberry up 2-1 headed to the last inning.

Queens led off the seventh with three consecutive singles and had runners on the corners with one out. An errant throw to the palte on the next play allowed the Royals to tie the game, and the winning run scored from third on a groundout to the right side.

Newberry had hard hit balls to the outfield in the seventh, but none would find safety, giving the Royals a win.

Ayres and Loffler each went 2-for-4 in the game. Brittany Middleton (Lizella, Ga.) was tagged with a tough luck loss despite allowing just one earned run in the complete game effort. She falls to 5-6 on the year, allowing eight hits and two walks and striking out five. Royals' hitters did not manage an extra base hit on the day.