slideshow

MARS HILL, N.C. — Sunday’s South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader between Newberry and Mars Hill was canceled due to poor field and weather conditions from this weekend’s winter storm that blew through the area. Due to SAC regulations, Sunday’s games will not be made up later in the season.

Newberry’s next action comes on Tuesday when the Wolves (6-5, 1-0 SAC) host Pfeiffer at 5 p.m. Tuesday and then travel to Greenwood for a 6 p.m. game with No. 7 Lander.

Newberry’s home SAC opening series is next weekend when the Wolves host No. 3 Catawba for a 6 p.m. game Friday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.

The Wolves did play Thursday and Friday and the results are below.

Newberry defeats Mars Hill, 5-4 in SAC opener Friday

Albert Baur scored the game-winning run with a solo homerun in the top of the sixth to give the Newberry Wolves a 5-4 win in the South Atlantic Conference opener against the Mars Hill Lions at Henderson Field on Friday.

The Wolves are now 6-5 overall and 1-0 in SAC play, while the Lions fall to 1-8 overall and 0-1 in the league. The teams will close their series with a Sunday 1 p.m. doubleheader. Both ends of the rescheduled twinbill will be seven-inning games.

Ryan Cranmer got the Wolves off to a great start with his first homer of the season with two outs in the first, but the Lions tied the game at 1-all in the bottom of the frame with a Tyler Shuler RBI groundout. Newberry could not score in the top of the second and Mars Hill took the lead in the back half of the inning on a solo homer by Thomas Timmerman and an RBI single by Evan Rogers to make it a 3-1 leads for the hosts.

Brandan Sheridan and Wesley Camp each had singles to put runners on the corners in the third and a sacrifice fly from Cranmer and an Eric Barbieri RBI single tied the game up.

Sheridan led the fifth off with a double to the gap in left-center, and Camp’s sacrifice fly gave Newberry a 4-3 lead. Baur hit a bomb to right field to lead off the sixth to put Newberry up 5-3.

The Wolves’ defense erased three Lions off of the basepaths in the middle innings, but Phillip Caroll led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and scored on an error later in the inning to cut the lead to one run. The Wolves shut MHC down in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win.

Alex Roberts moved to 1-1 on the season with a complete game, allowing three earned runs on nine hits and a walk with six strikeouts. It was the sophomore’s third career complete game.

The homers from Baur and Cranmer were each player’s first of the year. Cranmer was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Barbieri was 3-for-4 and Sheridan was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Wolves ground Fleet, 8-2 Thursday

The Newberry Wolves jumped out to a lead in the top of the first inning and followed solid pitching performances from 2012 Newberry High School graduate Brandon Ahrens and Mario Rojas to take an 8-2 win from the Flying Fleet of Erskine at Grier Field on Thursday.

With the win, Newberry is now 5-5 on the year, while Erskine falls to 5-2.

Anthony Siler reached on an error to lead off the game in Due West and stole third, while Wesley Camp drew a walk to quickly put runners on the corners. Eric Barbieri brought Siler home with a single and Camp scored when Jermale Paige reached on an error to take a 2-0 lead.

Ryan Cranmer extended the Wolves’ lead to 4-0 with a two-run, two-out triple in the top of the second. Paige hit a one-out triple in the third and scored on a Brandan Sheridan groundout to make it 5-1. Ahrens had been perfect in the first two innings, but Erskine’s Cody Spence led off the third with a solo homerun to cut the lead to 4-1.

Ahrens (1-0) would allow only two more runners to reach scoring position, as he allowed the one run on two hits while striking out six and walking one in five innings of work.

Newberry’s offense was stifled until the seventh inning, when Cranmer led off with a single, advanced to third when Barbieri reached via error and scored on an RBI single from Albert Baur to make it 6-1.

Rojas earned his first save of the season with four innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits, striking out three and walking one. Erskine’s solitary run against him came on an RBI pinch-hit triple by Connor Gibson in the bottom of the seventh to make it 6-2.

In the top of the ninth, Barbieri ensured the victory with his second homer of the season, this time also bringing Cranmer home after he reached with a single.

Cranmer went 4-for-5 on the day with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Barbieri was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Siler also collected two hits and a pair of runs scored. The Wolves’ defense was solid, committing no errors, while Erskine had four miscues.