GREENWOOD, S.C. – After struggling to start the game with any offensive production, the Newberry College (10-1) baseball team outscored the Lander Bearcats by a 9-2 margin over the final five innings of action to take home the 9-8 win and the series on Sunday, February 20.
Redshirt-junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) locked up the win for the Wolves in the top of ninth as along with redshirt-sophomore Henry Gibson (Walterboro, S.C.) executed a perfect double steal that scored the winning run in the contest. Marine tallied two RBIs in the contest for Newberry while freshman Kade Faircloth (Oviedo, Fla.) pitched in a pair as well.
Redshirt-junior Bryce Peterson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) earned the win tossing two innings in relief to close the contest while striking out four Bearcats along the way. Freshman Ethan LeBron (Lexington, S.C.) started the day on the bump for the Wolves, going three and a third while fanning five.
What had seemed to become common place in the weekend service, Lander was able to jump out to an early lead scoring two runs in the second, one in the third and three in the fourth to take the 6-0 lead before the Wolves would post their first runs on the in board in the top of the fifth. A lead-off double by freshman Jonathan Velez (Mayaguez, P.R.) followed up by a single by sophomore Rhett Jolly (Edgefield, S.C.) put two runners on the bags for Newberry. A single by Faircloth two batters later would bring around both pulling the Wolves closer but still trailing, 6-2.
Lander answered the call in the bottom half of the inning as they brought their lead back out to six with two runs in the frame. However, the Wolves offense had come alive as they were able to post three more runs on the board in the top of the sixth. Freshman Ben Freeman (Easley, S.C.) kicked off the inning with a single followed by a double by Gibson to leave two runners waiting in scoring position. A defensive miscue would plate the first run while a set of back-to-back hard ground outs to the left side plated two more as the Bearcats were comfortable trading runs for outs as they still held the 8-5 lead after the sixth.
Freeman knocked an RBI-double in the seventh inning to bring the margin to just two and while the Bearcats had a few chances in the frame, the Wolves were able to work out of the jam. Newberry would find themselves in a similar position in the bottom of the eighth as after going scoreless in the top half Lander led off the bottom with a triple and a hit batter to leave runners on the corners. However, the Wolves would make the switch to Peterson on the mound who would retire the next three batters in order by strikeout to remove the Bearcat threat.
A hit batter started the top of the ninth for the Wolves before a single by sophomore Jacob LeBron (Lexington, S.C.) put two runners on the bags. A single by Marine, with some help from a defensive miscue in the outfield, would score both runners and leave him waiting just 90 feet away as the go-ahead run. With two-outs and a 3-0 count the Bearcats intentionally walked Gibson to put runners on the corners and set-up multiple force out locations. For the fourth time this season the Wolves would execute a steal of home plate, this time by Marine to take over the lead for the first time in the game.
The Bearcats threatened late in the inning with a runner in scoring position, but Peterson was able to catch their last batter staring as they secure the 9-8 win.
Newberry returns home on Tuesday, February 22 as they play host to Lincoln University (Pa.) for a doubleheader starting a 3:00 p.m.
