GREENWOOD — The Newberry College (10-1) baseball team outscored the Lander Bearcats by a 9-2 margin over the final five innings to take home the win, and the series on Sunday, February 20.
Redshirt junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) locked up the win for the Wolves in the top of ninth. Redshirt sophomore Henry Gibson (Walterboro) executed a perfect double steal that scored the winning run. Marine tallied two RBIs for Newberry while freshman Kade Faircloth (Oviedo, Fla.) had two, as well.
Redshirt junior Bryce Peterson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) earned the win tossing two innings in relief to close the contest while striking out four Bearcats along the way. Freshman Ethan LeBron (Lexington) started the day on the bump for the Wolves, going three and a third, fanning five.
Lander was able to jump out to an early lead scoring two in the second, one in the third and three runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead. In the top of the fifth, the Wolves scored two, but still trailed.
The Wolves offense came alive as they were able to post three more runs on the board in the top of the sixth. Freshman Ben Freeman (Easley) kicked off the inning with a single, followed by a double by Gibson. An error plated the first run while a set of back-to-back hard ground outs plated two more as the Bearcats still held the 8-5 lead after six.
Freeman knocked an RBI-double in the seventh inning to bring the margin to just two.
A hit batter started the top of the ninth for the Wolves before a single by sophomore Jacob LeBron (Lexington) put two runners on. A single by Marine, with some help from an error in the outfield, scored both runners. With two-outs and a 3-0 count the Bearcats intentionally walked Gibson to put runners on the corners. For the fourth time this season, the Wolves executed a steal of home plate, this time by Marine to take over the lead for the first time in the game.
Peterson was able work through the ninth and secure a 9-8 win.