WINGATE, N.C. – To say that Newberry is white hot is a vast understatement.
Forced to come from behind in Game One on the day, No. 16 Newberry (31-7, 14-1 SAC) took a late lead over Wingate (23-12, 9-6 SAC) and made it hold up thanks to the work of
Quinton Driggers in a 10-8 decision.
Josh Bookbinder pitched a complete game in the day's second contest, throwing six scoreless innings while the offense gradually built an advantage in a 6-3 victory.
The wins place the Wolves in rarified air. Newberry has clinched its fifth 30-win season in the last six years and keeps the Wolves in first place in the South Atlantic Conference standings ahead of hard-charging Catawba, which has a 15-3 record in the league and has won nine of its last 10 games overall.
Newberry now has a 12-game winning streak that is somewhat amazingly not its longest of the season, one game shy of tying the current season-high set from Feb. 13 through March 2.
Additionally, the Wolves became the first team to sweep a three-game series at Wingate's Ron Christopher Stadium since Newberry accomplished the feat in their last trip to North Carolina's Union County two seasons ago.
The day began with Newberry falling behind the Bulldogs 4-0 through the first three innings of Game One. The Wolves rallied with three runs in the fourth, one coming on a booming
Colin Allman double and the others at the expense of a Wingate error.
Wingate extended its lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the inning, but Newberry again came through with three runs in the fifth on an RBI single by
Zane Tarrance and
Kenny Bergmann's two-run double.
Newberry added a run in the sixth and two in the eighth to move ahead by a 9-5 margin, but the Bulldogs roared back in the bottom of the inning. Each of the first four batters reached safely, with three runs coming home to trim the lead to one.
Greeted with a two-run cushion after Bergmann's third RBI of the game in the top of the ninth, Driggers went to work. Despite never earning a save before last weekend and 19 hours after a 50-pitch, four-inning outing to save Friday night's win, the junior lefty was called upon again to close out the game. He hit a batter and gave up a one-out single, but a double play ended the contest to clinch the series win for the Wolves.
Undefeated in their "Sweep Hats" this season, Newberry improved its record to 10-0 when a season sweep is on the line with the three-run victory in Game Two.
Although he labored in the seventh, Bookbinder was brilliant in the winning effort that improved his record to 7-0, tied with Driggers for the most wins nationally in all three NCAA divisions. All three runs and half of the eight hits he allowed came with the game comfortably in hand in the seventh inning.
The freshman struck out eight batters with three walks and allowed just two Bulldogs to reach second base in his first five innings of work.
Newberry outhit Wingate 23-16 on aggregate during the doubleheader. Six Wolves had multiple hits in the first game, led by three from
Nick Butler. The freshman also added two runs scored and a pair of RBI's, second on the team to Bergmann's three.
Dalton Lansdowne was the only Newberry player with multiple hits in a second game that saw seven starters and a pinch hitter finish with hits.
Danton Hyman got a hit in both games to extend his reached-base streak to 45 games dating to last season.
Colin Allman (19 games), Lansdowne (19),
Tyler Ackard (18), and Butler (10) also have significant active reached-base streaks.
Newberry returns to action Tuesday night at the Smith Road Complex, where the Wolves are 20-0 in 2019. Newberry will host Mount Olive, which has been ranked in the top five earlier in the season and halted the Wolves' 13-game winning streak during their previous meeting last month. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
