HICKORY, N.C. – Heading into the final conference weekend of the season looking to rebound from their series loss just a week ago, the No. 16 Newberry College (34-9, 17-4 SAC) baseball team was able to pick up a 9-3 win over the No. 20 Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears to kick off a weekend series in which the Wolves control their destiny in the conference standings.
Six different Newberry players were able to record multiple hits in the contest as they scattered 16 hits in the game. Sophomore Donovan Ford (Greenville, S.C.) posted a pair of hits, recording a trio of RBIs, a mark that was bettered by junior Rhett Jolly (Edgefield, S.C.) who turned in three hits in the contest and four RBIs. Senior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) also recorded a trio of hits in the contest.
Sophomore Ethan LeBron (Lexington, S.C.) picked up the win in the contest as he was able to pitch five complete innings, allowing just five hits and two runs. Junior Gunnar Erickson (Chapin, S.C.) garnered the save in the game as he pitched four innings, allowing four hits and just one run.
The highly touted match-up started just like one would have expected with each team getting runners aboard in the opening frame, but stingy defense by both sides brought the first inning to a close without a run being scored. That changed in the top of the second as the Wolves were able to record a trio of runs with timely bunting. A string of three straight singles in the inning, including a pair of bunts, brought around the first run of the frame, leaving two runners on the base path. A bases clearing triple by Ford just two batters later brought around a pair of runs for the Wolves, giving them the 3-0 lead.
Though the Bears were able to load the bags in the bottom of the frame, Newberry was able to work out of it with a line-out double play that brought the threat to a close. The Bears were able to strike with a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the third to close the gap to just one run, but the Wolves responded in the next half inning with a pair of runs to extend their lead back out to 5-2. Ford drove in one on a single while sophomore Jonathan Velez (Mayaguez, P.R.) brought around a run with an RBI triple.
Two more runs found their way on the board in the top of the fifth as sophomore Kade Faircloth (Oviedo, Fla.) and Jolly were each able to record an RBI-single to extend the Newberry lead to 7-2. Newberry further increased their lead by two more runs in the top of the seventh inning as some aggressive base running allowed the Wolves to score a pair on a sacrifice bunt by Jolly, bringing the advantage to 9-2. The Bears scratched across a single run in the bottom of the eight, but Erickson was able to shut them down the rest of the way, including a three-up three-down five pitch ninth inning to wrap up the 9-3 win.
Newberry and the Bears return to action tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. for a league doubleheader. The Wolves will be on the hunt for at least a split of the remaining two games as the Wolves need just one win tomorrow to secure the SAC Regular Season title and the top-seed for the upcoming South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
