NEWBERRY — The Wolves baseball team turned in a three-game series sweep of the Limestone Saints over a weekend series March 4 and 5.
Game one:
Opening up South Atlantic Conference play at home with a three-game series against Limestone, the Newberry College (16-3, 1-0 SAC) baseball team started on the right foot as they turned in a 18-3 win over the Saints on Friday.
Senior Joe LaFiora (Philadelphia, Pa.) picked up his third win on the year as he went a full seven innings allowing just one run on three hits with six Ks. Sophomore Connor Hodge (Montreal, Quebec) and freshman Logan Bledsoe (Summerville) wrapped up the contest for the Wolves.
At the plate the Wolves scattered 22 hits on the day with both freshman Hunter French (Minneola, Fla.) and freshman Ben Freeman (Easley) perfect for the day as French went 3-for-3 with a trio of RBIs while Freeman went 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Redshirt junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) had three RBIs and senior Beau Thompson (Pickens) brought in four runs.
Limestone kicked off the scoring with a two-out solo shot in the top of the first, but Newberry responded with a trio of runs in the bottom half to swing the lead back. A lead-off single by sophomore Jacob LeBron (Lexington) followed by a bunt single by senior Zane Tarrance (Odessa, Fla.) put runners on the corners with Marine coming up to the plate. He knocked a single up the middle to bring around two runs while a throwing error put both runners left into scoring position.
A hard ground out scored another run for the Wolves while Freeman would record his first RBI of the day later in the inning with a single up the middle to finally plate Marine from third and give Newberry the 3-1 lead.
A single by Tarrance and a stolen base set Marine up to drive him in, recording another RBI before Marine plated two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Thompson to increase the Newberry lead to 5-1.
Freeman kicked off the sixth inning with a double and was driven in by senior Ian Clements (Upper Marlboro, Md.), who found his way around the bags off a double from freshman Jonathan Velez (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) to bring the lead up to six.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Wolves recorded a season-high 11 runs in the inning. The inning came together on the back of three singles, four doubles, a triple, three walks and a hit batter. The Wolves recorded eight RBIs in the frame, ending the seventh with an 18-1 lead. Limestone was able to put two runs on the board in the top of the ninth, but the Wolves shut them down after that, securing the 18-3 win.
Game two:
Tyler Chinpire (Jupiter, Fla.) opened the day going six full innings in the early game of the twin bill Saturday, scattering just four hits while keeping the Saints off the scoreboard.
It was not until bottom of the third before the Wolves were able to post four runs on the board. A hit batter and a walk put two runners aboard for the Scarlet and Gray and both driven in on a double down the left field line by Tarrance to give the Wolves the 2-0 lead. An error and a wild pitch later in the inning plated the other two runs for Newberry giving them the 4-0 advantage.
The Saints plated their lone run in the top of the seventh. Though the Wolves were able to respond in eighth inning with a single run of their own, that’s where the game ended with the Wolves picking up the 5-1 win.
Game three:
Ethan LeBron (Lexington) started on the mound and provided the catalyst for the Newberry (18-3, 3-0 SAC) baseball team to a series sweep of Limestone. He pitched six innings, allowing four hits, while only allowing a single run on the board.
The game was more of the same from the Scarlet and Gray, though they were able to start in the bottom of the first, posting a pair of runs in the opening frame. An error, a walk and a single started the contest with the bases loaded for the Wolves, sophomore Henry Gibson (Walterboro) drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly. A hard groundout just a few batters later drove in the second run Wolves, giving them the 2-0 lead after one.
Another sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second gave the Wolves another run on the board. Newberry added another run in the fourth with a sacrifice bunt setting up Jacob LeBron with an RBI-single to make the advantage 4-0. Limestone finally broke through in the top of the fifth with a single run on a sacrifice squeeze play at the plate.
Another wild pitch in the bottom of the frame brought around another run for the Wolves while two more sacrifices in the bottom of the sixth extended the lead to the final, 7-1.
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