HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Wrapping up their final weekend of conference regular season play, the No. 16 Newberry College (37-11, 19-5 SAC) baseball team secured the second seed in the upcoming South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a doubleheader sweep of the Cobras of Coker University on Saturday, April 23.
The Wolves picked up wins of 10-1 and 4-0 on the back of a pair of brilliant outings from the freshman pitching duo of Tyler Chinpire (Jupiter, Fla.) and Ethan LeBron (Lexington, S.C.). Chinpire was able to toss five complete innings in the first game of the day, allowing just one run on three hits. LeBron picked up his eighth win of the season by going six complete innings, allowing just three hits while striking out five. He combined with junior Dylan Brazell (West Columbia, S.C.) to complete a combined shutout.
Sophomore Henry Gibson (Walterboro, S.C.) was able to record five RBIs in the opening contest of the day while freshman Jomar Lugo (San Sebastian, P.R.) knocked in a pair in the first game and added another in the nightcap. The Wolves were able to record 21 hits over the two contests.
A pair of singles would get the first base runners aboard for the Wolves in the opener, and the first of them would come around to score on a sacrifice fly ball by Gibson to give Newberry the early 1-0 advantage. However, the Wolves wouldn't waste any time growing that lead as they were able to add five more runs to their tally in the top of the second inning. Newberry used four hits over the inning, including a pair of doubles to score those runs.
The Scarlet and Gray would tally another run in each of the next two innings as well, but the Cobras were able to break up the shut out with a single run in the bottom of the third, but the Wolves would take the 8-1 lead into the fifth inning. That would be the first inning that Newberry was held scoreless, but they would get right back to it in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs on the board to extend their lead to 10-1. Both pitching staffs were able to keep the other team off the board over the remainder of the contest, giving the Wolves the 10-1 win.
In the nightcap, the Wolves continued their scoring ways with junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) recording the first RBI of the contest with a double to center field that brought around the first run and again gave them a 1-0 lead. Both teams went silent on the scoreboard until the top of the fourth where the Wolves were able to score the other three runs that they would in the game.
A pair of singles and a sacrifice fly brought around the runs for the Wolves while Ethan LeBron continued to work on the mound, holding the Cobras scoreless through six. Brazell would come in to replace him in relief in the bottom of the seventh and made quick work of the Coker offense as he struck out a pair in his only inning of work to secure the 4-0 shutout win.
The Wolves will now travel to Kodak, Tenn. to take part in the SAC Tournament that is taking place this year at the Tennessee Smokies minor league ballpark. The Wolves enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will await the results from the first day of action before they know their first opponent. Their first game will start at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Friday, April 29.
