GREENWOOD – A huge performance from a diminutive lefty and a little help from a wild pitch propelled Newberry to a 4-3 road win over Lander in 12 innings Wednesday night.
The decisive sequence began with one out in the 12th, when
Tyler White lifted a one-out double off the wall in right field and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Moments later,
Braylin Marine's sacrifice fly to center field gave Newberry (4-4) its first lead of the night.
The run was all the cushion
Quinton Driggers would need. The 5-11, 160 lb. junior closed out a gutsy performance to earn his second win of the season, setting a new career high with six strikeouts and matching his personal best with four innings pitched.
He retired the Bearcats (4-4) in order in the ninth inning before running into trouble in the 10th. A leadoff triple put the winning run 90 feet away, but Driggers and
Tyler Ackard were up to the task. Ackard speared a grounder at first base for the first out, then lunged to snare a line drive for the second.
Driggers provided the coda with a sweeping 2-2 pitch that froze the hitter and caught the outside corner for a called third strike, prompting a vociferous celebration from Driggers and an ejection of the Lander player for disagreeing with the pitch's location.
He made quick work of the Bearcats in the 11th and again slithered out of trouble in the 12th, working around a one-out bloop single to strike out the side and run his record to 2-0 on the young season.
The combination of Driggers and
Tyler Fuhr out of the bullpen was dominant for Newberry. The duo combined to pitch 7.2 innings, tallying 11 strikeouts without a walk and surrendering just four hits. Fuhr inherited two runners when he took over for
Tomas Sorcia, Jr. with one out in the fifth but stranded them both on the basepaths.
The three Wolves' hurlers accumulated 19 strikeouts on the day, the second-most in a single game this century by a Newberry pitching staff.
Danton Hyman was the primary catalyst for Newberry's offense, going 4-for-5 with a walk and three RBI on two singles to right field and a bases-loaded walk, all from the fifth inning onward.
It marked the fourth time in Hyman's career, and second time in nine days, that the senior center fielder had four hits in a game and raised his batting average to .472, good for second in the South Atlantic Conference among players with at least 25 at-bats.
Lander was led by three hits from first baseman Nathan Schreckengost and two apiece from second baseman Bailey Connell and center fielder Josh Gregory. Robbie Hoyt suffered the loss with three innings of relief work, allowing a run on two hits with two punchouts and a walk.
Newberry returns to action Saturday afternoon for a twinbill with visiting Kentucky Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m. The same two teams will meet on Sunday for another doubleheader.
