Kodak, Tenn. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team (33-18) fell to Newberry (33-17-1) by a 5-0 score Thursday on the opening day of the 2016 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Championship at Smokies Stadium.

The Bears, making their first appearance in the league tournament since 2009, were the eighth seed while the Wolves were seeded fifth.  Newberry takes on second-seeded Carson-Newman Friday as the double elimination portion begins at 3:45 p.m.

Newberry's Daniel Nations (Central, S.C.) pitched seven scoreless innings and improved to 8-1 on the year after earning the win.  Nations allowed just four hits while striking out eight batters in the process.

The Wolves took control early with a three-run first inning which included a leadoff home run from Daymon Totherow (Danville, Va.).  Totherow finished with two runs batted in while Jeff Sneed (Cumming, Ga.) added a two-run single in the frame.

Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore outfielder Marcus Shoemaker (Colfax, N.C.) had a double while sophomore Matt Sullivan (Bristol, Va.) fell to 3-4 after taking the loss.