NEWBERRY, S.C. – In the their final nonconference games of the regular season and their first meetings with USC Beaufort, the Newberry College softball team (20-13, 6-6 South Atlantic Conference) defeated the USCB Sand Sharks (8-23, 1-11 Peach Belt Conference) in both games of their Tuesday doubleheader. The Wolves took game one 10-6 and captured a run-rule victory in game two 9-1 in six innings.

Sophomore Lindsey Foster (Griffin, Ga.) earned the win for three innings in the circle. She allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out one batter. Junior Ally Sullivan (Campobello, S.C.) earned a four-inning save as she allowed two runs on four hits. Sophomore designated player Mackenzie Turner (Jefferson, Ga.) continued her strong bounce-back from multiple injuries earlier in the season as she went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Both of Turner's RBIs came on a fourth-inning home run to left field.

Junior left-handed pitcher Olivia Chestnut (Mount Dora, Fla.) threw a complete game in game two as the Wolves completed the run rule victory. In six innings she allowed just one run on three hits and struck out six. Junior right fielder Vanessa Wilson (Loganville, Ga.) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and the game-ending RBI. Junior third baseman went 2-for-2 and led the team in RBIs with four.

Game one:
After a two-out double in the top of the first inning, then Foster left the runner stranded, allowing the Wolves to score first in the bottom of the inning. Freshman catcher Molly Mattas (Duncan, S.C.) doubled and junior first baseman Sierra Brogdon (Leesburg, Ga.) drove in Mattas with a double of her own.

Two two-out hits gave the Sand Sharks three runs and a two-run lead in the top of the second inning. After a lead-off single from Wilson, Hill doubled to cut the lead to one run in the bottom of the second.

A two-out RBI double in the top of the third doubled the Sand Sharks' lead again from one run to two, 4-2. Wilson started the scoring in the bottom of the third with an RBI single and Hill tied the game on a bases-loaded fielder's choice. Sophomore center fielder Leah Evans (Pageland, S.C.) struck out with the bases loaded on what should have ended the inning, but as strike three sailed to the backstop, all three runners advanced including the Wolves' third run of the inning. The next plate appearance resulted in a walk, giving the Wolves one more run before they retook the field in the top of the fourth inning.

The Wolves picked right back up where they left off when Brogdon led off the inning with a double and Turner immediately followed up with her two-run shot. One more hit and two errors from the Sand Sharks allowed the Wolves to score two more runs before the inning's conclusion to take a 10-4 lead heading into the final three innings.

After the first two batters reached in the top of the fifth, Sullivan sat down the next three consecutively to retire the side. The junior gave up one unearned run in the top of the sixth inning, but immediately retired the next two batters to end the inning with minimal damage. And after a lead-off home run in the seventh, Sullivan again retired the next three batters consecutively to end the game, securing her four-inning save and the 10-6 victory for the Wolves.

Game two:
Although USC Beaufort struck first in the top of the first inning, the rest of the game was all Wolves. Brogdon scored herself and sophomore center fielder Christine Butler (Joliet, Ill.), who singled earlier in the inning, with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning.

The Wolves added three more runs in the bottom of the second as Wilson led off the inning with a single and advanced on an error by the right fielder, making it to third on a wild pitch before sophomore second baseman Mady Brown's (Winston-Salem, N.C.) at-bat was finished. Brown singled to score the junior, getting herself on base for Hill to score them both with a two-run blast to left field.

Both teams went in order in the third and neither fared much better in the fourth inning. The Sand Sharks again went down in order in the fifth inning. In the bottom of that same inning, Hill knocked in two more runs with a bases-loaded single. The Wolves had a chance to add more to their lead, but a strikeout ended the inning with two in scoring position.

The Sand Sharks again went down in order as Chestnut unknowingly completed her gem in the circle. With runners on the corners and two outs, a wild pitch brought home the Wolves' eighth run and advanced junior pinch runner Amber Dalfonso (Apopka, Fla.), putting Newberry just one run away from completing the run rule. Wilson answered the call as she singled up the middle, scoring Dalfonso and ending the game with a six-inning, 9-1 victory for the Wolves.

The Wolves return to conference play on Saturday, March 25 as they return to conference play and host the Mars Hill Lions at the Smith Road Complex. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 P.M.