HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Newberry (31-20) belted three home runs and withstood a late Carson-Newman (36-12) comeback to hold on for a 6-5 decision of day two at the SAC tournament.
Newberry stays in the winner's bracket and faces Catawba tomorrow. The Eagles fall into the loser's bracket of the double elimination tournament and play Anderson in an elimination game at 5:30 Friday.
Newberry pounced on Carson-Newman first with a two-run opening frame. Ashleyn Ayers led off the game with a home run to left before the Wolves loaded the bases for Ann Dee Priest who scored Gabby Bedard on a sacrifice fly.
Carson-Newman quickly countered to take the lead with a three-run frame in the bottom of the first with all runs produced with two out. A Brooke Ramsey (San Mateo, Calif.) single to center got the two-out rally rolling and gave the Eagles a pair of base runners.
Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) singled to right to score Bre Lockett (Fontana, Calif.) before Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) cleared the bases to give C-N the lead with a single to center.
Newberry was quick to respond in the second and third. Utilizing the longball once more, Cassie Harrell blasted a go-ahead, two-run home run to left to give the Wolves a 4-3 advantage before Ashley Drawe clobbered a two-run bomb in the third to add some insurance and produce a 6-3 lead for the Wolves.
Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) led off the bottom of the third with her 13th homer of the season to get the Eagles within two runs, 6-4.
Carson-Newman closed within a run in the fifth. Haley Taylor (Strawberry Plains, Tenn.) and Lockett led off the inning with walks. Taylor took third on a Siebert fielder's choice. Bedard robbed Ramsey of an extra base hit with a diving play in left, but the dive allowed Taylor to tag up on the SAC fly and bring the Eagles within a run.
C-N's offense stalled in the sixth with a 1-2-3 inning and the Eagles could only muster a baserunner in the seventh before falling 6-5.
Brittany Middleton got the win for the Wolves to improve to 9-8 on the year. Maude McCurry was credited with a save. Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) gave up the go-ahead home run in the second to take the loss for C-N. She falls to 13-6 on the year. Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) worked the final four innings, striking out seven and only allowing one hit as C-N made its comeback bid.
