Hickory, N.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne (17-7, 3-3) and Newberry (17-8-1, 4-5) split a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Bears Field. Lenoir-Rhyne won the first contest by a 9-5 score while Newberry salvaged the split with a 10-1 win in the nightcap.
Game One – Lenoir-Rhyne 9,
Newberry 5
Lenoir-Rhyne freshman outfielder Justin Dean (Mauldin, S.C.) hit a grand slam and finished with six runs batted in to lead the Bears to the win.
Dean's grand slam in the second inning opened the scoring before sophomore catcher Cole Fowler (Dobson, N.C.) had a bases-clearing double in the sixth inning to put the contest out of reach.
The Wolves finally got on the board in the seventh inning and added four runs in the eighth frame but it was too little, too late for Newberry. The Wolves' Jacob Bass (North Augusta, S.C.) totaled two hits and two runs batted in.
On the mound, sophomore Landon Whitson (Marion, N.C.) improved to 3-1 on the year after allowing just one run while pitching into the seventh inning for the Bears. Newberry's Zack Kelly (Daleville, Va.) (3-2) took the loss.
Box Score
Game Two – Newberry 10, Lenoir-Rhyne 1 (seven innings)
The Wolves hit three home runs – two by Jeff Sneed (Cumming, Ga.) and one by Daymon Totherow (Danville, Va.) – as Newberry came away with a split.
Sneed hit a three-run home run in the first inning and a solo shot in the third frame while Totherow connected on a two-run home run in the second inning as Newberry led by a 10-0 margin after three innings of play.
Lenoir-Rhyne got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning on a run-scoring double by senior shortstop Matthew De La Rosa (Austin, Texas).
Newberry's Mike DeLee (Dorchester, S.C.) improved to 5-0 on the year after limiting the Bears to just four hits in five innings of work. Lenoir-Rhyne junior Thomas St. Clair (Winston-Salem, N.C.) suffered the loss and fell to 1-2 on the season.
Box Score
Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Beckley, W.Va., to take on Concord in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. Newberry hosts Erskine on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.