SALISBURY, NC – Newberry Baseball opened the South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a tough 8-4 loss to top-seeded and nationally ranked No. 6 Catawba on Thursday afternoon at Newman Park. The Wolves, the 8-seed in the bracket, will now face the loser of Limestone vs. Coker in an elimination game on Saturday.

Newberry struck for all four of its runs in the sixth and seventh innings, highlighted by a two-run homer off the bat of senior Cooper Gentry in the seventh that put them within one run of Catawba. Gentry finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a hit-by-pitch, while Kade Faircloth also tallied two hits and a stolen base. Parker Mergo added an RBI single in the seventh, and Wilson Wages brought home a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

On the mound, freshman Chansen Cole took the loss, allowing six earned runs over 6.2 innings with six strikeouts. Brayden Gilson pitched the final 1.1 innings in relief, giving up just one hit and no runs. The Wolves recorded nine hits on the day but left seven runners stranded and committed two errors defensively.

Catawba used a four-run sixth and three-run seventh to build their lead, making big plays on clutch extra-base hits and Newberry miscues.