WINGATE, N.C. -- The Newberry softball team fell to Wingate in both games of a SAC doubleheader Wednesday, dropping game one 10-2 and narrowly losing the second game 5-4. Newberry is now 18-13 this season, with a 9-11 record in conference play.
Game One: Bulldogs score 10 to beat Wolves
Newberry jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when
Hannah Towery took a 1-2 pitch and deposited it over the center field fence for her 12th home run of the season. After the Bulldogs tied the score in the bottom of the inning, Newberry re-took the lead in the fourth. It started when
Hailey Hill hit a one-out double into left field. She would come around to score when
Tori Rose doubled down the left field line, putting the Wolves up 2-1. After Wingate slipped out of the inning, they would go on to score nine consecutive runs, including three in the bottom of the sixth to pick up a walk-off win.
Game Two: Back-and-forth game goes to Wingate
The second game of the doubleheader started like the first, with Newberry drawing first blood.
Paige Meyer led off the game with a double to right-center field, advancing to third when
McKenzie Barneycastle reached on an error by the Wingate pitcher.
Haley Simonds them popped up a bunt to the first baseman, who proceeded to commit a throwing error, allowing Meyer to score the game's first run. The Wolves were able to hold the lead until the bottom of the third, where Wingate got a two-our double to tie the game.
Newberry exploded in the fourth, scoring three runs in the top of the inning on two hits, including a three-run home run courtesy of Hill that scored Twoery and
Vanessa Wilson, who came on as a pinch-runner for Simonds, who had drawn a leadoff walk. Towery then was hit by a pitch, putting two on for Hill.
Tedi Nunn then hit a one-out double into left field, and advanced to third on an error by the shortstop before being thrown out trying to score, ending the inning. Wingate would score one in the bottom of the frame before putting three runs on the board in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
Inside the Boxscore
- Towery, Barneycastle and Simonds are the only three players to start all 31 games this season for the Wolves, with Towery and Barneycastle both batting over .400 and Simonds sitting at .341. Towery leads the team in home runs (12) and RBI (33) while Barneycastle has two triples to lead the Wolves.
- Hill went 2-3 in the second game, raising her batting average to .277. She has played in 30 games for the Wolves this season, with five home runs and 22 RBI, both of which are third-most on the team.Â
- Barneycastle and Towery both have five-game hit streaks active, with Meyer having recorded a hit in four consecutive games. Meyer has reached base in eight consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak of the season.
Up Next
The Wolves will take on Tusculum Saturday for another SAC doubleheader before concluding the regular season Monday at the Smith Road Complex against Lenoir-Rhyne.
