NEWBERRY – A complete-game effort by Wingate's Hunter Morgan derailed Newberry's bid for a third straight win as the Wolves fell 4-2 in Friday's South Atlantic Conference series opener.
Newberry (22-19, 11-11 SAC) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning but was unable to solve Morgan throughout the remainder of the game. The Bulldogs' (32-11, 15-7 SAC) offense tied the game on starting pitcher
Evan Estridge in the fifth inning and broke through with single runs in the seventh and eighth, helped by solo home runs from designated hitter Bradley Brown and left fielder Trent Wynn.
The night, however, belonged to Morgan, who held Newberry to two runs or fewer for just the fifth time in 41 games this season. He threw 10 or less pitches in seven different innings and scattered eight hits in what proved to be Newberry's shortest nine-inning game in over a year at two hours and 21 minutes.
The Wolves took an early lead with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the second.
Colin Allman singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a fielding error with one out. A walk loaded the bases for
Chase Barbary, who turned on an 0-2 pitch for an RBI single into left field.
Tommy Passerello grounded out to second base for the second out of the inning, scoring
Kevin Clanton from third base and putting the Wolves ahead 2-0. Morgan got out of the jam with a flyout on the next pitch to strand two runners in scoring position. He would allow just two runners to advance past first base the rest of the way, with none coming after the fifth inning.
Allman and Barbary led the Wolves with two hits apiece.
Danton Hyman went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice, marking just the sixth time in 41 games this season the junior center fielder has been held without a hit.
Newberry had promising innings in the sixth and ninth snuffed out by Wingate double plays, including Bulldogs' shortstop Brett Branton snaring a rocket line drive off the bat of
Tyler White and doubling off a runner at first.
Second baseman
Dalton Lansdowne turned an impressive double play of his own in the eighth. The first two Bulldogs to bat in the inning reached on base hits, prompting head coach
Russell Triplett to call on
Quinton Driggers out of the bullpen to relieve
Evan Estridge. Second baseman McCann Mellett squared to bunt on each of Driggers' first two offerings, causing the corner infielders to pinch in and Lansdowne to shift toward the bag at first as the pitch was thrown.
Mellett instead swung away and hit a sharp grounder right to Lansdowne, who fielded the ball and lunged for the runner heading for second. The runner was called out on the tag and Lansdowne threw to first to complete the twin killing over the protestations of the Bulldogs. The umpires conferenced but upheld the call.
The Wolves did not commit an error for the 18th time this season and sixth time in the last 10 games, raising the team's conference-leading fielding percentage to .972 and entering the top 20 in Division II.
Newberry and Wingate will conclude their season series with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. following a ceremony to honor Newberry's 12 seniors.
