Newberry, S.C.----The Wingate University baseball team rallied in a big way, scoring late runs to take a 10-3 South Atlantic Conference victory over Newberry College Friday night at the Smith Road Complex. The Bulldogs scored four in the tie-breaking sixth inning and five in the seventh frame.
With the victory, Wingate improves to 17-10 overall and 12-4 in the SAC. Newberry is 12-18 overall and 1-12 in the SAC. The two teams will play a league Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
Bulldog sophomore shortstop and lead-off hitter Chris Vazquez (Tyrone, Ga.) and sophomore outfielder Dodson McPherson (Graham, N.C.) led the Wingate hit brigade with three hits each. Vazquez was three-for-six with a double and two RBI. McPherson was a perfect three-for-three with two walks.
Wingate redshirt senior center fielder Nick Siega-Riz (Clemmons, N.C.) and junior catcher Taylor Honeycutt (Indian Trail, N.C.) collected two hits and one RBI each. A pre-season All-SAC pick, Siega-Riz added a double to his statistics ledger Friday night.
Bulldog senior right-hander Tyler Almond (Oakboro, N.C.) pitched eight strong innings, improving his overall record to 3-0. The pre-season All-SAC choice struck out 10 and walked one in eight complete innings. Almond allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits (three singles, two doubles).
Siega-Riz helped Wingate get on the board first with a single spot in the top of the second inning. With one out, Bulldog redshirt freshman first baseman Brian Yeung (Raleigh, N.C.) walked. Siega-Riz followed with his fifth double of the season to plate Yeung from first.
Newberry scored three runs on three hits and one Wingate error to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Newberry junior catcher Sanchez Gartman (Newberry, S.C.) had an RBI double, while senior outfielder Roland Haskins (Alexandria, Va.) contributed an RBI single in the fourth frame.
Wingate took the lead for good with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Yeung tied the game with a two-run homer, the first round-tripper of his college career. The blast scored freshman designated hitter Ethan Strickland (Dunn, N.C.), who had singled to start the sixth.
Honeycutt walked and Vazquez followed by plating the winning run with an RBI double. Later in the inning, Vazquez scored thanks to two Newberry wild pitches. In the seventh inning, Wingate added insurance by scoring five runs on three hits and two Newberry errors. The scarlet-and-gray clad Newberry pitchers also issued four walks in the seventh stanza.
Newberry senior shortstop Scott Horvath (Apopka, Fla.) had two hits in three tries for the hosts. Four teammates had one hit each. Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Roman (Kissimmee, Fla.) took the loss for Newberry. In six complete innings, Roman gave up five earned runs on nine hits. He struck out three and walked four. Roman had two wild pitches and one hit batsman.
