NEWBERRY – The Newberry pitching staff turned in a dominant performance on Saturday afternoon at the Smith Road Complex, limiting Lincoln Memorial’s potent offense to a single unearned run on just nine hits in a doubleheader sweep.

The Railsplitters (17-9, 5-7 SAC) came into the day hitting a SAC-best .342 on the season, but a quintet of Wolves’ pitchers held the Railsplitters to 9-for 55 (.164) at the plate across 16 innings Saturday afternoon, with Ryan Harbin’s third complete game of the season capping the sweep and delivering the series win to the Wolves.

Lincoln Memorial was unable to solve the freshman left-hander all day. Harbin went the distance in Newberry’s (13-13, 6-6 SAC) 2-0 seven-inning victory, giving up four hits and allowing just two runners to advance past first base. The West Columbia native also showed off a slick pickoff move in the third to erase a baserunner from second base and slammed the door in the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning punctuated by a strikeout.

The Wolves managed just three hits of their own in the Game Two victory but made the most of their opportunities. Danton Hyman began a two-out rally in the third with a single through the right side and his 14th stolen base of the season. On the next pitch, Colin Allman extended his reached-base streak to 28 games with a single to right field to score Hyman from second and give the Wolves the lead.

Newberry doubled their advantage with an unearned run in the fifth, taking advantage of a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and a passed ball to score a run without the benefit of a hit.

Newberry won the opening game of the doubleheader 11-1 in polar opposite fashion. The Wolves accumulated 14 hits on the day, scoring at least a run in each of the first four innings and pounding at least one hit in the first six.

The Wolves handed Lincoln Memorial’s Joe Bobiak his first loss of the season, chasing the left-hander who entered the game with an unblemished 5-0 mark and a sterling 1.75 ERA after just 2.2 innings and five runs on seven hits. The next three LMU pitchers surrendered at least two runs each as Newberry’s offense continued to shine.

Colin Santiago set a career high with four RBI’s in the game, singling up the middle in the third before lacing a bases-clearing triple in the fourth that scored three unearned runs. Santiago was one of eight Newberry starters that finished the game with a hit.

Chase Barbary went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a pair batted in. Derek Olenchuk led Newberry with three hits, moving into second in the SAC with a .398 batting average and third with 45 hits on the season.

Dylan Southerland improved to 4-1 on the season with a dominant performance, allowing just two hits in six innings. Austin Walker pitched a perfect seventh inning, while Robert Westenrieder gave up an unearned run in the eighth and Jonathan Elicier erased a one-out single with a game-ending double play.

Newberry is now on a two-game winning streak against Lincoln Memorial after losing nine in a row to the Railsplitters dating back to the 2015 season. The wins also snapped a four-game skid for the Wolves this season.

The Wolves take the series against Lincoln Memorial to move to .500 in conference play.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_Baseball1.jpgThe Wolves take the series against Lincoln Memorial to move to .500 in conference play. Courtesy photo

Staff Report