NEWBERRY, S.C. - After battling through the opening rounds of the SAC Tournament, the Newberry Wolves saw their postseason run come to a close in a hard-fought 12-10 contest against No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne, despite a late-game surge that nearly flipped the script.
The Bears wasted no time setting the tone, pushing across two runs in the first inning before adding a pair in the second to build an early 4-0 advantage. Newberry responded in the third when Zane McLendon sparked the offense with a leadoff single. He advanced 90 feet at a time and eventually raced home on a wild pitch to get the Wolves on the board.
Momentum began to swing in the fourth inning. After Newberry capitalized on a balk to trim the deficit, Finn McLaughlin and Bryson Nuckols delivered back-to-back extra-base knocks, each driving in a run, to even the score at 4-4. The Wolves weren't done, as McLaughlin later crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from Chandler Mims, giving Newberry its first lead of the day at 5-4.
Lenoir-Rhyne answered quickly, reclaiming the lead in the bottom half of the inning before breaking things open with a four-run sixth inning to stretch the margin to 11-6.
Facing a steep deficit, the Wolves continued to battle. Jomar Lugo ignited another push in the seventh, using his speed to pressure the defense and ultimately scoring on a wild pitch. In the eighth, Newberry loaded the bases and delivered in a big way as Keillor Osbon ripped a double into the right-center gap, bringing home two runs and slicing the deficit to three. Moments later, Nick Foster lifted a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Luke Compton to tag and score, pulling the Wolves within one.
Despite the relentless comeback effort, Newberry was unable to find the equalizer. Lenoir-Rhyne added an insurance run in the eighth and held on down the stretch to secure the 12-10 victory.
