Hunter French and teammates celebrate their walk-off over Augusta Feb. 6.
Newberry College Athletics
NEWBERRY — The Newberry College (3-0) baseball team was able to secure the three-game sweep of the Jaguars of Augusta University on Saturday, February 5 at the Smith Road Complex.
Redshirt junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) went 6-8 on the afternoon while crossing the plate three times. Sophomore Jacob LeBron (Lexington) turned in a trio of RBIs while freshman Jomar Lugo (San Sebastian, P.R.) pitched in a pair. Redshirt senior Zane Tarrance (Odessa, Fla.) and Hunter French (Minneola, Fla.) each recorded a pair of RBIs, as well.
Freshman Scott Templeton (Mt. Pleasant) picked up his first collegiate win after pitching 2.1 innings in the opening contest of the day; sophomore Johnathan White (Simpsonville) picked up his second win of the weekend in the late game. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Tuck (Liberty) picked up a save in the early game.
After giving up a home run in the opening frame of the first game, the Wolves responded in the bottom half with a pair of runs with two outs to take the early 2-1 lead. The Jags pulled even in the second inning posting a single run, but the Wolves answered again in the bottom of the inning and were able to scratch across a pair of runs, with some help from a defensive miscue by the Jags to extend their lead to 4-2.
Newberry added another run in the bottom of the third as Marine found his way around the bags on a lead-off single and stolen base to be driven in by redshirt sophomore Henry Gibson (Walterboro) to bring the margin to 5-2. In the bottom of the fifth, freshman Donovan Ford (Greenville) plated another run for the Wolves.
The Wolves opened the floodgates in the bottom of the fifth as they were able to put four runs up in the frame to extend their lead to 10-2. Augusta started to claw back in the top of the seventh, they brought three runs and added another pair in the eighth before Tuck would come into the contest and shut them down the rest of the way, securing the save and the 10-7 win.
In the second game, the Wolves carried the momentum, posting a pair of runs on the board off a wild pitch and an RBI double from graduate student Beau Thompson (Pickens) to take the early 2-0 lead. Newberry added a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning from a two-RBI single by Tarrance to extend their lead to four.
However, Augusta took only their second lead of the day in the top of the fourth inning as they were able to put up a five spot in the frame to take over the 5-4 advantage. The Wolves were able to respond in the bottom half of the frame with two runs of their own, including Marine stealing home to give the Wolves the 6-5 lead. Each team posted a run in the fifth, keeping the one-run advantage on the bottom half of the score line.
The Jags were able to plate two runs and swing the lead back to their side heading into the bottom of the seventh, 8-7. A lead off walk and a hit by Tarrance left two runners in scoring position and forced the Jags to intentionally load the bases. However, they would not be able to make a play as French stepped into the box and drove a liner to left-center that brought around two runs for the Wolves and wrapped up the 8-7 win.