NEWBERRY – Newberry rallied from an early deficit to win convincingly and remain perfect at the Smith Road Complex.
 
Stop us if you've heard this before.
 
The 24th-ranked Wolves (20-7, 6-1 SAC) allowed three early runs to Mars Hill (11-13, 2-7 SAC) but scored 10 times in the fifth through seventh innings to take a lopsided 10-4 decision in Friday night's South Atlantic Conference series opener.
 
The win improved Newberry's record at the Smith Road Complex to an unblemished 13-0 in 2019, a home winning streak that is the Wolves' longest in at least 37 years and has nearly exhausted Newberry's statistical archives.
 
Arguably just as impressive? Friday's win was the ninth time in the 13 games that the Wolves have come from behind, rallying from an early 3-0 deficit to remain atop the conference standings.
 
Mars Hill struck early with a solo home run in the first inning from pitcher/designated hitter Brett Brubaker, whose fly ball into the teeth of the wind cleared the fence just under the scoreboard in right field in an at-bat that included five consecutive fouled-off pitches.
 
The Lions added two more runs in the third, but as they have so many times this season, the opportunistic Wolves strung together a few hits and took advantage of Mars Hill defensive miscues to claw back into the game. A pair of singles and a throwing error put two in scoring position for Dalton Lansdowne, whose two-run double invigorated the home dugout.
 
A strikeout, a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt, and a fielder's choice promptly followed by an error put another run on the board before Tyler White's booming double into the gap in left center gave Newberry a 4-3 lead.
 
After Mars Hill countered with a game-tying unearned run in the top of the sixth, Newberry scored three runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. A bases-loaded infield single from Danton Hyman provided the first run.
 
The final two came on Aidan Baur's deep fly ball to right center that was flagged down by the Lions' defender, who appeared to forget that the catch was only the second out of the inning. Lansdowne raced in from second to join Spangler at the plate, giving Baur a rare two-run sacrifice fly and placing the momentum squarely in Newberry's favor.
 
The pair combined for the three RBI's in the bottom of the seventh to push the advantage to six runs. The bottom third of the order provided nearly all of Newberry's offense, with Spangler and Lansdowne combining with Nick Butler to go 8-for-10 with eight runs scored, five RBI's, two walks, and three of the Wolves' six stolen bases.
 
Quinton Driggers improved to 6-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.96 by allowing an unearned run on one hit in four innings of relief work. Charlie Fessler took the no-decision with a five-inning effort that saw Mars Hill score three times on six hits.

Center fielder Danton Hyman went 1-for-5, extending his reached-base streak to 34 games dating back to last season. He has now hit safely in 14 consecutive games. He also made a sensational diving catch in shallow left-center field. Tyler Ackard (14 games) and Aidan Baur (13 games) extended significant reached-base streaks as well.
 
The No. 24 Wolves square off with the Lions for a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1:00 p.m.