MARS HILL, N.C. - A seventh-inning rally in the nightcap allowed the Newberry Wolves' softball team to salvage a split in the opening series of South Atlantic Conference play at Mars Hill on Friday afternoon. Mars Hill took a 4-2 win in the first game, while Newberry was a 9-5 winner in the second game.

Newberry is now 20-8 overall and 1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference, while Mars Hil is 7-12 overall and 1-1 in league action. The Wolves are next in action on Tuesday, March 22, with a home doubleheader against Catawba starting at 2 p.m.

Game One: Mars Hill 4, Newberry 2

• Maude McCourry was tagged with the loss in the circle to fall to 10-4 on the year after allowing three runs on four hits in 3.0 innings.
• Allison Van Atta picked up two hits in the contest.

Newberry struggled to get the offense going in the early innings, stranding a runner on second base in the second inning and a runner on third base in the fifth after Natalie Willis led off with a double.

A pair of RBI doubles for Mars Hill in the second inning gave the hosts the lead and the Lions added on with an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.

Hailey Drawe drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. Van Atta brought her home with a single to right to cut the lead to 4-1. Newberry would leave runners on second and thrird in that inning.

Drawe would drive home a run with a one-out single in the seventh to cut the lead in half, but Newberry would get out twice with the go-ahead run at the plate to end the contest.

Game Two: Newberry 9, Mars Hill 5

• Jeri Loffler went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. 
• McCourry went 2-for-4 with a late surge, driving in three runs with a double and her second homerin of the season.
• McCourry would also step back into the circle and pick up her 11th win of the season with two innings of shutout relief.

Christina Linton drew walk to lead off the game and Drawe hit a single into the gap. They would both come home on Loffler's double to left-center, giving Newberry its first lead of the day at 2-0. Willis led off the third with a single and would come around and give Newberry a 3-0 lead on a passed ball.

Mars Hill charged back and took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Wolves would regain the advantage on an RBI double from McCourry and a run-scoring single from Mallory Gerndt in the top of the sixth. A Krista Romine RBI double in the bottom of the sixth for Mars Hill tied the game at 5-5.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Wolves' bats went to work to earn the win. Drawe and Loffler singled and Briana Clontz poked a two-run double down the right field line to put Newberry ahead. McCourry stepped in and blasted a two-run bomb to left field to put Newberry ahead by four.

A Newberry error slightly prolonged the game in the bottom of the seventh, but McCourry sat down the final three Lions to give Newberry the split.