HICKORY, N.C. – Newberry traveled to take on conference opponent No. 7 ranked Lenoir-Rhyne in the second to last doubleheader of the regular season with finals of 11-0 and 6-3.
The Wolves bounced back in Game Two giving the Bears a run for their money with a
Haley Simonds home run special to right field for her sixth of the season. This two RBI home run scored
Natalie Willis who had previously doubled to right center.
Simonds had single handedly tied the Wolves up with the Bears at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the third only leaving one left stranded on base.
Newberry struck back immediately in the fourth adding another run to their cause starting with a
Daphne Peyton double to the popular spot of the day, right center.
Kailey Carpenter came in to pinch run for Peyton before
Shannon McCann's at bat.
McCann reached base on an error by the second baseman on a bunt as the speedy Carpenter advanced to third during the play. On a ground out,
Paige Meyer scored Carpenter and moved McCann to second base.
Natalie Willis kept the hitting alive and singled to the shortstop propelling McCann to third base, but the inning would end on a fly out. However, the Wolves would lead the Bears 3-2 at the end on the fourth.
A sixth inning offensive burst would end the two-inning scoring drought for Lenoir-Rhyne as they were able to tack on four runs to take Game Two 6-3. The combination of an error, two singles, double, home run, and two fielder's choices gave the Bears four runs and four hits in the sixth while leaving one stranded.
Willis and Peyton were two Wolves who nabbed doubles while Simonds had herself a good hitting game as well. She also relieved starting Game Two pitcher
Alyssa Ball who tossed 5.1 innings against 31 Bears.
Newberry was down in Game One but didn't give up after Lenoir-Rhyne opened the day with four runs in the first inning. The Wolves' defense halted the offensive explosion in the second inning keeping the Bears scoreless and only gave up two runs in the following inning.
Lenoir-Rhyne sealed the five-inning victory with five additional runs in the fourth. Starting pitcher
Emily Marchbanks battled against eight Bears before being relieved by
Chelsey Cunningham who went 2.1 innings in the circle. After Cunninghams' bout,
Selice Daley got the nod for the final inning.
Hitting for Newbery in Game One was led by
Tori Caldwell and Simonds who bother garnered doubles against the tough LR defense. The freshmen duo in center fielder
Sydney Patterson and pinch hitter
McKenzie Barneycastle also nabbed hits for the Wolves.
For the final games of the season Newberry will travel to Anderson to face the Trojans on Saturday, April 21 at noon and 2:00 p.m.
