FLORENCE, S.C. – The defending South Atlantic Conference champion Newberry College baseball team will kick off their 2024 campaign with a three-game series against the Patriots of Francis Marion. The series will start with two games in Florence on Friday and Saturday, and will finish in the Smith Rd. Complex on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Friday and Saturday's games will have live stats be on the conference carolinas network. Sunday's game will be on flo sports and will have live stats provided. 
The Nationally Ranked Wolves

• The Wolves were ranked 12^th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) preseason poll announced last month.
• The Wolves were ranked 17^th in the D2 baseball insider preseason top 25 poll.
• The Wolves were picked as the preseason favorites in the South Atlantic Conference Coaches' Poll released last month.

 
The 2024 Newberry College Wolves.
The Wolves return five all-SAC honorees from the 2023 season, where the Wolves would win their first SAC Tournament championship since 1999. The Wolves would host the Southeast Regional in the NCAA tournament for the second time ever during the season.
 
Among the honorees returning is SAC Freshman of the Year in right-handed pitcher Bennett Roemer. Roemer had an undefeated 9-0 record in 11 starts, striking out 76 batters and holding opposing hitters to a .242 batting average. Roemer will be in a starting rotation with Tyler Chinpire, who received preseason first team all-SAC honors announced by the office last month. Chinpire also was undefeated in the 2023 season, going 7-0 in 15 starts for the Wolves striking out 41 batters.
 
In the field, the Wolves would only get one departure in two-time SAC and Southeast Region Player of the year in Braylin Marine. The Wolves will still have three preseason first team all-SAC members in Donovan Ford, Rhett Jolly and Jonathan Velez. Among preseason all-SAC honorees are Kade Faircloth, Jacob LeBron, and Jomar Lugo. Those three earned preseason third team all-SAC honors.
 
Ford is coming off a stellar season for the Wolves where he had a .406 batting average, a team high 47 stolen bases and 98 hits on the championship season. Jolly returns as a first team all-SAC Catcher where in 2023 Jolly drove in 41 runs for the Wolves and caught 14 runners attempting to steal. Velez had a .337 batting average for the Wolves in the 2023 campaign, where he got hit by 24 pitches in the campaign which led the Wolves.
 
Jacob LeBron, Kade Faircloth, and Jomar Lugo were named 2024 preseason third team all-SAC players. LeBron hit .321 in the 2023 season but shined in the SAC Conference Tournament as he was named the tournament MVP where he batted .409 for the tournament with a double, three RBIs, and a stolen base. He also had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in right field for the Wolves with an outfield assist. Faircloth held a .979 fielding percentage as a left fielder for the Wolves in the 2023 campaign also had a .333 batting average and 13 stolen bases for the Wolves. Lugo had a tremendous year on and off the field for the Wolves in 2023. Lugo earned the SAC Elite 23 award which honors the student-athlete with the top cumulative grade-point average (based on a minimum of 48 credit hours) in each of the league's 23 team championship sports. Lugo held a .974 fielding percentage and the highest 140 assists of any returning Wolf for the 2024 season at second base.
 
Scouting the Patriots.

•  The Patriots have been picked seventh in the Conference Carolina preseason poll released last week.
• Right-handed pitchers Josh Adams, and Robbie Jordan, along with Shortstop Peyton Wilson were selected to the preseason players to watch.
• The Patriots went 29-25 in the 2023 campaign. They made a Cinderella run to the Conference Carolina Championship game before falling to the Trojans of Mount Olive.