Courtesy of Newberry College

NEWBERRY — The Newberry College baseball team (5-0) was able to pick up a convincing 13-4 win over Southern Wesleyan (2-3) Feb. 11, kicking off a three-game series.

After getting the start on opening day, redshirt junior Joe LaFiora (Philadelphia, Pa.) picked up his first win on the season with six innings of shutout baseball with eight strikeouts.

At the plate, graduate student Beau Thompson (Pickens) provided the most run production for the Wolves as he blasted a grand slam in the second inning. Redshirt sophomore Henry Gibson (Walterboro) added a pair of RBIs on the day as well while four other players were able to record one each. The Wolves were aggressive on the base paths all night as well recording seven stolen bases on the evening.

Holding a 1-0 lead from a Gibson RBI double, the second inning started with a home run by freshman Jonathan Velez (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) and was followed by a single from senior Ian Clements (Upper Marlboro, Md.). An error on a sacrifice bunt attempt scored Clements all the way from first and left a runner waiting on third, with a 3-0 advantage on the score line. A single on the next plate appearance extended the lead to 4-0. With two outs the Warriors walked the bases loaded and Thompson stepped into the box and took his first pitch for a ride down the left field line and into the woods, extending the Wolves lead out to 8-0 at the end of two.

In the fourth, redshirt senior Zane Tarrance (Odessa, Fla.) found his way across the dish off an error by the Warriors to further strengthen the Wolves lead to 9-0.

In the fifth, Newberry executed a double steal with runners on first and third to give the Wolves their first run of the inning. They followed that with an RBI single by sophomore Jacob LeBron (Lexington) and added two more runs on a triple by redshirt junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) to bring the score to 13-0.

The Wolves did allow four late runs from the Warriors, but were still able to secure the 13-4 win at home.