WINGATE, N.C. – The No. 17 Newberry College (31-9, 13-5 SAC) baseball team returned to action on Saturday, April 9 as they drew a split with No. 2 Wingate Bulldogs in doubleheader action, picking up the 15-13 win in a slugfest to open the day before dropping a heartbreaking 7-6 decision in the nightcap.

 Freshman Scott Templeton (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) picked up the win on the mound in relief in the opening contest of the day while redshirt-sophomore Colm O'Shea (Sunnyside, N.Y.) notched the save in the game. Freshman Ethan LeBron (Lexington, S.C.) toed the rubber for the entirety of the second game and even though he drew the loss, he was able to fan 11 batters in the contest.

Sophomore Henry Gibson (Walterboro, S.C.) led the squad with four RBIs on the day as he recorded six hits over the pair of games. Redshirt-junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) tallied a trio of RBIs in the opening contest while senior Ian Clements (Upper Marlboro, Md.) recorded a pair in the late game. Senior Beau Thompson (Pickens, S.C.) and freshman Donovan Ford (Greenville, S.C.) each notched a pair as well in the opener.

The Bulldogs were able to take the lead in the bottom of the first with a single run in the frame before the Wolves were able to plate a single run in the top of the second in response off a sacrifice fly by sophomore Rhett Jolly (Edgefield, S.C.) to pull back even. Newberry would take their first lead of the day in the top of the third as Gibson would knock a double down the left field line that brought around the run, giving them the 2-1 advantage.

Wingate was able to retake in the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, and that's when the scoring onslaught would start for both sides as the Bulldogs would start with three runs in that frame before the lead would swing back into the Wolves favor as they plated three runs of their own in the top of the fifth to take the lead back over 5-4. Gibson was able to plate the third run of the game with an RBI-single to center field before Thompson knocked a two-run blast to right field giving them the one-run advantage.

The Bulldogs were able to retake the lead again in the bottom of the fifth with a three-spot in the frame before the Scarlet and Gray were able to retake their lead in the top of the sixth with a four-run inning to swing the advantage 9-7.  A pair of RBI-singles, a sacrifice fly and a bases loaded walk drew those four runs to give them their biggest lead of the day.

However, a three-run shot by Wingate in the bottom of the sixth swung the lead back to the Bulldogs by one run before again Newberry would respond in the next half as they extended their lead out to three with a four-run inning in the top of the seventh. Sophomore Jacob LeBron (Lexington, S.C.) kicked off the inning an RBI-single before Marine drove in a run on a double to center field and he would later be driven in by a single as well before Ford knocked in the last run in the frame with an RBI-double to give them the 13-10 lead.

Wingate crawled back into the contest with a three-run inning in the bottom of the seventh, but the Wolves were able to scratch across a run in each of the next two innings while holding the Bulldogs scoreless over the same stretch to give Newberry the 15-13 win in the opener.

The Wolves carried that scoring momentum into the nightcap as they were able to post a run on the board in the opening frame would further add to that lead in the top of the third to extend out their lead to 3-0.  Wingate tied up the contest in the bottom of the fourth with one swing of the bat as they knocked another three-run shot on the day to pull even 3-3.

A single run in the top of the sixth would give the Wolves the lead yet again, but a solo shot from the Bulldogs in the bottom half would tie up the game yet again.  Newberry looked to control the game heading into the bottom half of the seventh inning as they were able to plate two runs in the top of the frame.  However, Wingate was able to knock a two-out three-run scoring double in the seventh as the Wolves were unable to make the final out at the plate to force extra innings, giving Wingate the series.

Newberry returns home to take on the Crusaders of North Greenville University on Tuesday, April 12 for Business at the Ballpark Night.  First pitch of that contest is set for 6:00 p.m.