JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Newberry softball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday as they swept the Carson-Newman Eagles in a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader. The win snaps a four-game losing streak for the Wolves.
Game One: Wolves rally in fifth
The first game of the day looked like it would turn into a shootout, as both teams put up runs in the first. It was the Wolves who drew first blood, as
McKenzie Barneycastle drew a one-out walk to set up
Hannah Towery to hit a home run to right field, giving Newberry a quick 2-0 lead. The Eagles would respond with three runs on one hit in the bottom of the frame to take the lead.
After Carson-Newman scored a run in the third and fourth inning, the Wolves bats woke up in the fifth, putting up five runs on four hits, including back-to-back RBI doubles from
Hailey Hill and
Kasey Widmyer.
Mallena Wright also picked up an RBI single down the left field line to put Newberry up 7-5. It looked like the Eagles were going to have a chance to tie things up in the bottom of the seventh, but their two-out single turned into an outfield assist from left fielder
Paige Meyer, gunning down the Carson-Newman batter-runner to end the game.
Game Two: Wolves slip past Eagles in extras
It was a scoreless game heading into the top of the third, which is where the Wolves did most of their damage. Meyer led off with a single up the middle, scoring on a Barneycastle double into the right-center field gap. Towery then stepped up to the plate and jacked her second home run of the doubleheader, this one going to center field. After
Haley Simonds was hit by a pitch and Hill singled, Widmyer hit a triple down the left field line, bringing in a pair of runs and stretching the lead to 5-0.
The Eagles scored three runs in the fifth before scratching across a run in both the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
Reagan Glanz started the top of the eighth on second base for the Wolves and advanced to third courtesy of a sacrfice bunt from
Tedi Nunn. Wright then stepped up to the plate and laced a single into right field to score the go-ahead run. The inning came to an end with a pair of groundouts, then in the bottom of the eighth the Eagles were unable to score a run, despite getting a runner to third base with one out, as Newberry pitcher
Alexandrea Sullivan induced a pair of popouts to end the game.
Inside the Boxscore
- Sullivan picked up her sixth win of the season in game two, throwing her sixth complete game of the season. She recorded seven strikeouts, giving her a team-high 71 on the season.
- Towery now has hit eight home runs this season, the most on the team. She is batting .396, with six doubles and 21 runs batted in. She is second in batting average to Barneycastle, who is batting .426 so far this season.
- Game two was just the second Newberry game to reach extra innings this season, and the first since their season-opening doubleheader at Georgia College. The Wolves are 2-0 this season in extra-inning games.
On Deck
The Wolves will return to the friendly confines of the Smith Road Complex for a SAC doubleheader Wednesday against Mars Hill. They won't be on the road again until April 2, when they face Catawba in Salisbury, N.C.
