MARS HILL, N.C. — The Newberry College baseball team suffered its first South Atlantic Conference sweep of the season on Sunday, as Mars Hill College earned a 7-2 win at Henderson Field.
Newberry falls to 11-13 overall and 5-4 in South Atlantic Conference play this season. Mars Hill is now 15-16 overall and 5-6 in the SAC. Newberry returns home this Wednesday for the first of five consecutive home games with a 7 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday against Coker College. The scarlet and gray host Catawba College for a three-game SAC series on Friday and Saturday.
Casio Grider (Hephzibah, Ga.) was 3-for-4 at the plate on Sunday with two doubles for Newberry, but Mars Hill pitcher Alex Britt (Salisbury, N.C.) moved to 4-2 on the season with a complete-game win. Britt allowed two runs on seven hits. He struck out two batters and induced 11 groundouts.
Britt received offensive help from his teammates, beginning in the bottom of the first inning. Brian Williams (Orlando, Fla.) jacked a two-run homer to give Mars Hill an early 2-0 lead.
After John Fogarile (New York, N.Y.) hit a two-run homer — the first of his collegiate career — for Newberry to centerfield in the top half of the second inning, the Lions answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Mike Dobre (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Devin Presnell (Boone, N.C.) hit back-to-back singles to score Kris Torrance (Pt. Jefferson Station, N.Y.) and Dalton Hardee (Boone, N.C.). Mike Kitt (West Islip, N.Y.) then singled to score Dobre and give Mars Hill a 5-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Dobre hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Patrick Davidson (Swannanoa, N.C.) came across the plate to increase the Lions’ lead to 6-2.
Kitt scored the final Mars Hill run in the bottom of the se v enth inning. Davidson hit a weak single to Jovan Rohena (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) but beat the second baseman’s throw to first which allowed Kitt to score home.
Ernest Castellano (Homestead, Fla.), now 3-3, took the loss for Newberry. He surrendered six runs on eight hits in five innings pitched.
NC softball claims sweep of SAPC
The Newberry College softball squad won their fourth and fifth straight games as they swept St. Andrews Presbyterian, 12-4 and 4-0. The scarlet and gray defeated the Knights on the run-rule in game one and claimed their sixth shutout of the season in game two.
Picking up victories for Newberry was Kristen Hicks (Bamberg, S.C.) and Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.). The scarlet and gray moved to 21-6 on the year as St. Andrews dropped to 13-18.
Game One: Newberry 12, St. Andrews 4 - (6 inn.)
The scarlet and gray piled up 12 runs as they garnered their 20th victory of the season, which surpassed last year’s total of 19. Newberry scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to score a 12-4 run-rule victory over the Knights.
The first scores of the game came in the third inning as the Knights put two runs on the scoreboard. Jasmine Dobbin drove in the first run off a sacrifice fly, which scored Lex Cowger from third. Dobbin was followed by Tiffany Capone, who doubled to left-center scoring Nicole Bailey.
Newberry responded in the third with three runs of its own off two hits and two errors by the Knights. Whitney Wiles (Iva, S.C.) led off the inning with a bunt single and advanced to second as Aissa Gatewood (N. Charleston, S.C.) singled to left center.
A passed ball then allowed Wiles and Gatewood to advance to second and third base. The bases were then loaded as Kat Hammond (Irmo, S.C.) walked. Two runners crossed the plate when Huckestein reached first on a throwing error by the Knights’ third baseman, Danyell Marquez. Hammond later scored on a failed pickoff attempt to give Newberry the 3-2 lead.
SAPC tied the game in the fourth as Dani Ghramm singled to right-center scoring Marquez.
With the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning, Newberry scored two runs to take the 5-3 lead into the sixth inning, when Newberry’s bats heated up as the scarlet and gray put seven runs on the board off of five hits and two errors.
The seven-run sixth inning gave Newberry the run-rule victory as the scarlet and gray improved to 20-6 on the year. Picking up the victory in game one was Hicks, who moved to 10-4 on the year as she pitched five and two-third inning as Huckestein came in to get the save for Newberry, which was her second of the year.
Game Two: Newberry 4, St. Andrews 0
The scarlet and gray clinched their sixth shutout of the season and second in as many days as Newberry scored four runs on the Knights. Newberry had eight hits in the game and improved to 21-6 on the year.
The first runs of the game came in the fourth inning as Huckestein reached base on a hit-by-pitch and advanced to third base as Chelsie Hilbourn (Loris, S.C.) reached base on a throwing error by the second baseman, Kailee Munden.
Huckestein scored as Stephanie Blazer (Greenville, S.C.) reached base on a fielder’s choice, giving Newberry the 1-0 lead. Blazer crossed the plate later in the inning as a dropped pop-up by Munden allowed her to score.
Courtesy of Newberry College Sports Information
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