JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In their Saturday doubleheader, the Newberry College softball team (18-13, 6-6 South Atlantic Conference) split their doubleheader with the No. 24 Carson-Newman Eagles, earning their first NFCA top 25 win of the season. After falling 14-5 in five innings, the Wolves held off a seventh-inning comeback attempt from the Eagles to claim a 13-12 victory in game two.

Junior Ally Sullivan (Campobello, S.C.) received both decisions in the circle in the Saturday doubleheader. In game two, she allowed just one run on two hits in two and two-thirds innings pitched. Junior designated player Sierra Brogdon (Leesburg, Ga.) collected five hits and four RBIs in the split-decision doubleheader.

Game one:
The Wolves collected hits in two of the first three innings, but failed to scratch a run across. In that same time frame, Newberry held the Eagles to just one run.

In the top of the fourth, the Wolves led off the inning with back-to-back home runs from Brogdon and sophomore designated player Mackenzie Turner (Jefferson, Ga.) to take the lead. After a double and single put runners on the corners with one out, junior third baseman Hailey Hill (Summerville, S.C.) hit a sacrifice fly to give the Wolves a 3-1 lead.

Four hits and two walks allowed the Eagles to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Turner hit her second home run of the game in the top of the fifth to tie the contest with the No. 24 Eagles at five runs a piece, but nine runs in the bottom of the fifth ended the game with a run-rule victory for the Eagles, 14-5.

Game two:
After the Eagles scratched across a run in the bottom of the first, the Wolves took a two-run lead in the top of the second on a home run from Hill. Freshman catcher Molly Mattas (Duncan, S.C.) and Turner both hit two-run home runs in the top of the third to push the lead to 6-1 for the Wolves.

The Eagles added one run in the bottom of the third but the Wolves responded with five runs in the top of the fourth. Back-to-back singles from Mattas and Brogdon plated a combined three runs and sophomore second baseman Mady Brown (Winston-Salem, N.C.) drove in the fourth and fifth run of the inning giving the Wolves an 11-2 lead halfway through the game. 

Carson-Newman added nine runs between the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game. The Eagles took a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.

A wild pitch and single scored two runs in the top of the seventh for the Wolves and gave the Wolves a late one-run lead. Sullivan retired the Eagles in order to seal the 13-12 top-25 victory for the Wolves.

The Wolves return to the diamond on Tuesday, March 21, as they host their final nonconference matchups of the season with USC Beaufort. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 P.M. at the Smith Road Complex.