Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics
NEWBERRY, S.C. – Once again carried by an offensive outburst in the first game and a strong pitching performance in the second game, the Newberry College softball team (7-5, 0-0 South Atlantic Conference) collected two wins on Sunday; defeating the Fairmont State Falcons (2-6) in their first game of the day in six innings by a run-rule final of 9-1 and then defeated the Lees-McRae Bobcats (7-3), 3-0.
Junior pitcher Ally Sullivan (Campobello) picked up the win in the first game as she threw four innings and gave up just one run on three hits and struck out four batters. Freshman Jayla Jackson (Dillion) picked up the save for her two innings of no-run pitching. Jackson issued no walks and struck out one batter. Junior centerfielder Vanessa Wilson collected three of the Wolves’ RBIs when she hit a homerun to right field in the fifth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Lindsey Foster (Griffin, Ga.) collected her fourth win of the season for her six-and-a-third innings pitched against the Bobcats. She allowed no runs and gave up three hits while striking out five. Junior Olivia Chestnut (Mount Dora, Fla.) earned her second save of the year as she faced the minimum number of batters to record two-thirds of an inning pitched when she entered with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.
Game One:
The Wolves collected one run in each of the first four innings. The run in the first came from an RBI single by freshman catcher Molly Mattas (Duncan). The Wolves’ second run came from an RBI double by senior left fielder Emily Hughes (Parrish, Fla.). Junior designated player Sierra Brogdon (Leesburg, Ga.) hit a solo shot to center field for the third run of the game and a ground out in the fourth inning by sophomore third baseman Reagan Smith (Tega Cay) scored the runner from third. Defensively, Sullivan gave up just two hits and a run during the first four innings and the Wolves entered the fifth with a 4-1 lead.
The Wolves blew the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth inning as with two on and two out, Wilson sent a towering blast over the right field fence and put the Wolves lead to six runs, 7-1.
Jackson retired the Falcons in order in the top of the sixth before freshman shortstop Melanie Carr (Davie, Fla.) singled with two in scoring position to enact the run-rule and secure the 9-1 Newberry victory.
Game two:
The Wolves’ second game of the day was a much closer, defensive battle. Through the first two innings each team collected two base runners and the Wolves had the only two hits.
The Bobcats added another runner in the third but Foster pitched herself out of the jam. The Wolves had two on with one out in the third inning, but a strike out and a ground out ended their chances of pushing across the first run of the game.
The fourth inning saw each team send four batters to the plate with each pitcher issuing a walk but retiring the other three batters they faced. The fifth inning went by even quicker as the teams traded three up, three downs.
Sophomore second baseman Mady Brown (Winston-Salem, N.C.) came in clutch with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning as she singled and drove in the game’s first run. Junior third baseman Hailey Hill added two more runs to the lead as she knocked a bases loaded double to drive in two runners. That was almost a bases-clearing double but Brown was thrown out at the plate and the Wolves settled for three runs in the inning.
With one out in the seventh inning, Foster gave up a hit and hit a batter with a pitch to put runners on first and second. A single to center field loaded the bases and Chestnut took over in the circle to record the final two outs of the game. She fielded a ground ball and got the second out of the inning at home plate to keep the run from scoring and secured the Newberry victory by getting the next batter to pop out. The Wolves took the second game of the day by a final score of 3-0.