JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Ninth-ranked Newberry won its sixth South Atlantic Conference series in as many tries on Saturday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader with Carson-Newman with a 10-5 win before falling by a 13-6 count.
Newberry (33-9, 16-2 SAC) ran its conference winning streak to 13 games with the five-run win in the first game of the day before stumbling in the series finale. The Wolves maintained their first-place position by percentage points over Catawba in the SAC standings ahead of a pivotal series between the ranked foes next weekend.
Newberry took the lead on Carson-Newman (23-17, 6-11 SAC) with three runs in the first inning and never looked back in the convincing win. The Wolves pounded out 13 hits in the contest, led by a 3-for-3 day with three runs scored from
Colin Allman and a career-high four RBI on two hits from freshman
Nick Butler.
Allman's two-out single scored
Zane Tarrance from second and gave Newberry a 1-0 lead before
Luke Orr's first collegiate home run made the advantage 3-0. Newberry got three more runs in the top of the third inning to stretch the lead to 6-1. The first three men all reached base to chase Eagles' starter Ryan Victory, who fell to 1-1 on the season with the loss. A throwing error led to the first run of the inning before Butler's first two-run hit of the day; his second would come on a double in the eighth.
Tomas Sorcia, Jr. improved his record to 4-0 by allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits through five innings of work.
Tyler Fuhr gave up a run on five hits the rest of the way and was credited with his first save since Feb. 12, 2017.
The Wolves fell behind 6-0 early in Game Two of the twinbill before getting on the board in the fourth and rallying for four runs in the fifth. Newberry strung together three hits in the frame, beginning a one-out rally when
Peyton Spangler was plunked by a pitch for the 24th time in his career.
Newberry had two on and two out for
Danton Hyman who ripped the first pitch he saw down the line for a two-run triple. Tarrance hit a triple of his own in the next at-bat to plate Hyman, then came around to score on
Tyler Ackard's RBI single.
But Carson-Newman responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to push the lead back to five runs. Orr started the sixth inning with a double to right center followed by an infield single from Butler to put runners on the corners with no outs. A line-out sacrifice fly by Spangler scored one run for the Wolves, trimming the Eagles lead to 10-6.
A three-RBI double by the Eagles in the bottom half of the inning put the nail in the coffin for the Wolves as Newberry failed to score in the seventh inning as Carson-Newman took a 13-6 win.
Danton Hyman saw his 47-game reached-base streak come to an end with an 0-for-5 outing in the first game but rebounded with a two-hit day with two runs scored and two RBI in Game Two. Newberry's first six batters in the lineup each recorded a hit in Game Two. The Eagles' 13 runs are the most scored by a conference opponent against the Wolves this season.
Josh Bookbinder was saddled with his first loss of the season, allowing 10 runs on seven hits to fall to 7-1. Carson-Newman's Matt Bradley would pick up his first win with a complete game outing.
Newberry returns to action on Wednesday against USC Aiken where the Wolves will look to rebound from their first loss of the season at the Smith Road Complex. The Wolves then host No. 14 Catawba in a crucial SAC series Friday and Saturday.
