TIGERVILLE – A walk-off home run in Game One and an offensive explosion in Game Two gave eighth-ranked North Greenville a series sweep over Newberry on Saturday, winning the final two games of the set 7-5 and 13-5 at Ashmore Field.
The Crusaders (4-2) led 5-3 after the fourth inning of the first game, which was scheduled for seven innings with the final game going nine. The Wolves (3-4) clawed back into the game with single runs in the fifth and seventh frames, turning a leadoff walk into a run in the final inning when
Aidan Baur singled through the left side on the first pitch he saw to tie the score at 5-5.
Tyler Fuhr allowed an infield single to Utah Jones on his first offering of the inning but got some help from his defense two pitches later with a slick 6-4-3 double play. Crusaders' first baseman Adam Sasser drew a 10-pitch walk, fouling off three two-strike pitches to extend the inning for right fielder Jeffrey Chandler.
Chandler fouled off a first-pitch offering, then lifted a two-run home run to center field to give the Crusaders a dramatic win and cap off a 4-for-4 game.
The loss spoiled a tremendous outing by third baseman Baur, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the contest. His ground-rule double to left put the Wolves ahead 2-0 in the first, while his double to left in the fifth made the score 5-4 and his seventh-inning single drew the Wolves level in the final inning.
The walk-off win propelled the North Greenville offense into the second game of the day. The Crusaders wasted no time in building a sizeable lead, moving ahead 5-0 in the first inning and scoring in five of their eight offensive innings. North Greenville sent nine men to the plate in the first and did their damage on four hits, two walks, and a sacrifice fly.
Tanner Lane provided the first true spark for the Newberry offense, blasting Newberry's first home run of the season down the left field line to score a pair. A seventh-inning sacrifice fly by
Chase Barbary and a groundout by
Tyler Ackard an inning later produced single runs for the Wolves, while Baur's sacrifice fly to center gave him his fourth RBI between the two games.
Danton Hyman,
Kenny Bergmann, and
Braylin Marine each finished Game Two with a pair of hits and a run scored apiece.
Chandler and Jeremy Whitehead collected five hits each on the afternoon for North Greenville, which finished the twinbill with 28 hits.
Newberry is back in action on Tuesday night for a 6:00 p.m. conference at in-state foe Lander. The Wolves then host back-to-back doubleheaders against Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday and Sunday.
