SAC Baseball Championship Day Three Recaps

No. 4 Newberry 7, No. 6 Carson-Newman 3

FOREST CITY, N.C. - Newberry right-hander Cole Cromer allowed only one run on four hits in seven innings of relief work Saturday morning, leading the fourth-seeded Newberry College Wolves past sixth-seeded Carson-Newman University 7-3 on day three of the Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship at McNair Field. The Wolves improve to 28-21 overall, advancing to take on Catawba Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Carson-Newman falls to 20-25. The Eagles will face the loser of the Tusculum vs. LMU game Saturday at 4 p.m.

JoJo Bradley was two-for-four with a double, three RBI and two runs scored to lead the Newberry offense. Eric Barbieri went two-for-four with a double, homer, two RBI and two runs scored. Jermale Paige added a double and an RBI, while Albert Baur was two-for-three with a run scored for the Wolves.

Zach Long was two-for-four with two doubles and an RBI to lead the Carson-Newman offense. Evan Kirkpatrick went one-for-three with an RBI, while Joe Tipton was one-for-three with a run scored. Bo Ausmus added a pair of hits for the Eagles.

Carson-Newman jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second. Long plated the first run with an RBI double to left center. He would score on an RBI single from Kirkpatrick to give the Eagles a two-run lead.

Newberry answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame to tie it. Barbieri, Bradley and Paige hit back-to-back-to-back doubles on three straight pitches, with Bradley plating Barbieri and Paige driving home Bradley to tie it.

The Wolves took the lead in the third when Barbieri connected on his eighth homer of the year, a two-run shot to left to give Newberry a 4-2 lead.

The Wolves added three more in the seventh. Bradley's two-run single made it 6-2, while a Carson-Newman error pushed the advantage to five.

The Eagles scored a run in the top of the eighth to make it a four-run game. Tipton singled, then went to third on a double from Ausmus. An RBI groundout from Evan Jurjevic plated Tipton to make the final score 7-3.

Cromer got the win to move to 5-2 on the season. He allowed a run on four hits in his seven innings of work, striking out eight without walking a batter, throwing 81 pitches in relief. Alex Britt took the loss, falling to 4-4. He allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits in six innings, striking out four and walking two.

No. 5 Lincoln Memorial 8, No. 3 Tusculum 7

FOREST CITY, N.C. - Fifth-seeded Lincoln Memorial University scored a run in the seventh and three in the eighth Saturday afternoon, rallying for an 8-7 victory over third-seeded Tusculum College on day two of the 2013 Food Lion SAC Championship at McNair Field. Tusculum is back in action at 4:20 p.m. Saturday, taking on Carson-Newman. The winner of that contests faces Lincoln Memorial Sunday at 9 a.m. LMU is 24-23 overall, while the Pioneers fall to 29-17 on the season.

Curt Fuqua was three-for-four with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored to lead the LMU offense. Andre Rodriguez added a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Josh Coker also went two-for-four with an RBI and run scored for the Railsplitters. Nolan Woody added pair of hits including a double, scoring a run for LMU while Cody Baker scored three times.

Cade Stallings was three-for-five with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored. Jalen Shuffler was two-for-five with an RBI and a run scored, while Heath Comerford was two-for-five with an RBI. Joe Polichetti had a hit and two runs scored.

LMU scored four runs in the first inning. Fuqua plated the first run with an RBI double to left. The next two runs scored on wild pitches, while an RBI single from Coker made it 4-0.

Tusculum got on the board in the fourth on an RBI single from Matt Henriksen. The Pioneers scored four times in the fifth to take the lead. The first run scored on a wild pitch, while Shuffler's RBI single made it 4-3. Stallings added an RBI double down the right field line to tie it, while a sacrifice fly from Comerford gave TC a 5-4 lead.

Tusculum took a 6-4 lead in the sixth thanks to a pair of LMU errors. Lincoln Memorial got to within a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Nick Pressley.

The Railsplitters scored three times in the eighth to regain the lead. Coker started the inning with a double, then went to third on a bunt single from Nolan Woody. Coker would score on a wild pitch to tie the game at six. A fly ball to deep right was then dropped, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Rodriguez added an RBI single to right to give LMU an 8-6 lead.

Stallings started the ninth with a double, then went to third on Comerford's RBI single and scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-7. The tying run got to third, but Coker came in from left field to close out the game, striking out the final hitter to preserve the win for Lincoln Memorial.

Ian Creager got the win for LMU, improving to 4-3. He allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in 3 2/3 innings, striking out three. Coker notched his third save of the year, striking out two in one inning of work. John-Austin Shepard took the loss, falling to 6-2. He allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits in two innings, striking out four and walking one.

No. 6 Carson-Newman 9, No. 3 Tusculum 8

FOREST CITY, N.C. -Carson-Newman centerfielder Cody Fox ripped the game-winning RBI double off the wall in center field Saturday evening, giving the sixth-seeded Eagles a 9-8 walk-off victory over third-seeded Tusculum College on day three of the 2013 Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship at McNair Field. Carson-Newman improves to 21-25 overall, advancing to take on Lincoln Memorial Sunday at 9 a.m. Tusculum is eliminated from the SAC Tournament, falling to 29-18 overall.

Fox went three-for-five on the night with a double, two RBI and a run scored to lead the Carson-Newman offense. Brandon Roberts was two-for-four with a double and two RBI, while Bo Ausmus had a homer and two RBI for the Eagles. Joe Tipton added a double, RBI and two runs scored.

Joe Polichetti went three-for-three with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Tusculum attack. Trey Drewery added a triple, two RBI and two runs scored, while Jalen Shuffler was two-for-five with an RBI and run scored.

Tusculum got on the board in the first when Shuffler led off the game with a double, then scored on an RBI groundout from Cade Stallings.

Carson-Newman answered with three in the bottom of the inning. Tipton plated the first run with an RBI double to right center. The next two runs would score on a Tusculum throwing error to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.

Carson-Newman took a 4-1 lead on a Brandon Roberts sacrifice fly in the second. The Eagles added a run in the third on an RBI single from Fox, making it 4-1.

The Pioneers scored twice in the fourth to cut the lead to two. Drewery plated the first run with an RBI triple to right field, then scored on an RBI single from Polichetti to make it 5-3.

Carson-Newman had the answer with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Roberts plated the first run with an RBI single, while a two-run homer from Ausmus to center made it 8-3.

Tusculum scored a pair of runs in the sixth to cut into the lead. Drewery drove home the first run with an RBI double to left center, while an RBI single from Polichetti made it 8-5.

The Pioneers scored three more runs in the eighth to tie it. Pinch hitter Taylor Foster drove home the first run of the frame with an RBI single. Shuffler followed with an RBI double down the left field line to cut the lead to one. A squeeze bunt from Vinny Ferrera plated pinch runner Tanner Maloof to tie the game at eight.

Tipton started the ninth by drawing a leadoff walk. He would move to second on a wild pitch. Fox then ripped a 2-1 pitch off the middle of the wall in center, allowing Tipton to score the game-winning run.

Ryan Fillers got the win, improving to 2-3. He allowed a run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings, striking out two. John-Austin Shepard suffered his second loss of the day, falling to 6-3. The first team All-SAC reliever allowed a run on a hit in one inning of work, striking out one and walking one.

No. 4 Newberry 3, No. 1 Catawba 2

FOREST CITY, N.C. - The fourth-seeded Newberry College Wolves scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night, rallying for a 3-2 victory over top-seeded Catawba College in the final game of day three of the 2013 Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship at McNair Field. Newberry improves to 29-21 overall, advancing to play Sunday at 1 p.m. against LMU. Catawba falls to 35-16 overall.

Albert Baur had a double, RBI and run scored to lead the Newberry attack. Andy Vogel also drove in a run, while JoJo Bradley went two-for-three for the Wolves. Jermale Paige was one-for-three with a run scored.

Blake Houston and Chris Dula each went one-for-three with a run scored to lead the Catawba attack. Keaton Hawks added a triple for the Indians.

The starting pitchers dominated the first four innings of the contest, combining to strike out 11 batters. Newberry loaded the bases in the bottom of the first via two walks and an error, but Catawba's Ross Whitley got out of the inning with a strikeout.

The Wolves got on the board in the fifth inning without a hit. Paige drew a leadoff walk, then went to second on a sacrifice. He moved to third on a groundout, then scored on a Catawba error.

The Indians took their first lead of the night in the eighth inning. Houston lined a one-out single to right center, then stole second and went to third on a passed ball. He scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. A Newberry error allowed Dula to score to give Catawba a 2-1 lead.

The Wolves answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Cranmer was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He would score the tying run on Baur's RBI double off the wall in left field. Baur went to third on a single from Bradley. Vogel would then lay down a perfect bunt single down the first base line, allowing Baur to score what would be the game-winning run.

Tyler Sturkie worked a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his eighth save of the season. He preserved the win for Matt Chapman, who moves to 4-1 on the season. He worked two-thirds of an inning without allowing a hit, striking out one. Alex Roberts worked seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing just three hits. Sean Grant took the loss, falling to 0-3. He allowed a run on one hit. Whitley worked the first seven innings, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out six.