Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics
FLORENCE, S.C. — Newberry Baseball closed out the regular season with a weekend series against no.20 Francis Marion on April 26th & 27th. Unfortunately the Wolves dropped all three games in the series.
Saturday, April 26th
Kade Faircloth picked up five hits, drove in a pair of runs and scored two runs and Ethan LeBron allowed just three runs over six innings in the nightcap, but the Wolves lost a pair of games to #20 Francis Marion 6-2 and 7-6.
After dropping the opener 6-2, the Wolves jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second game with four runs in the fourth inning.
Faircloth drove in the first run with a triple, the second run scored on an error, Anthony Plotkin doubled in the third run and Jesse Free singled to drive in the final run of the inning.
After the Patriots cut the lead to 4-3 after six innings, the Wolves scored a pair of runs in the top of the eighth on a run scoring triple by Cooper Gentry and a run scoring single by Plotkin to give the Wolves a 6-3 advantage.
Francis Marion rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth to earn the 7-6 victory.
Faircloth picked up three hits in the second game to give him his fourth three-hit game of the season.
Sunday, April 27th
The Wolves fought hard, but fell short in a 2-1 loss against No. 20-ranked Francis Marion at Sparrow Stadium. The Wolves wrapped up the regular season at 25-25 overall following a strong pitching performance and a competitive effort against one of the top teams in the country.
Jacob Clark delivered another solid outing on the mound, throwing 6.2 innings while allowing just one earned run on five hits with one strikeout. Parker Fenton and Ryan Barnett combined to pitch a scoreless first two innings.
Offensively, the Wolves managed three hits, with Jesse Free providing the lone RBI on a two-out single in the seventh to drive in Kade Faircloth, who finished 1-for-3 with a run scored. Luke White also added a hit in the effort. Newberry stayed within striking distance throughout, but a late run by Francis Marion in the bottom of the eighth proved to be the difference. Newberry’s defense turned two double plays and committed just one error in the loss.
The Wolves now turn their focus to postseason play, stay up to date on newberrywolves.com to see the final SAC playoff bracket.