Wingate, N.C.----Neil Griffin's walk-off sacrifice fly gave second-seeded Wingate University a 7-6 eleven-inning victory over seventh-seeded Newberry on day one of the South Atlantic Conference baseball tournament Friday afternoon at Ron Christopher Stadium and Plyler Athletic Field. The Bulldogs improve to 35-16 overall, moving into the winner's bracket, set to take on Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday at 2 p.m. The Wolves fall to 27-24 overall and will face Carson-Newman in an elimination game Saturday at 6 p.m.
KEY STATS
- Wingate out-hit Newberry 10-5
- The Wolves had four of the six extra-base hits with four of the five homers
- The Bulldogs left 11 on base; Newberry stranded six
- Each team had a stolen base
- The Wolves had two of the three errors
- WU pitching struck out 12 and walked five; NC had five strikeouts and nine walks
KEY BULLDOGS
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Jalen Evans had a double, triple, three RBI and three runs scored
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Reed Benamati went two-for-four with two RBI
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Jake Courville added a hit, RBI and run scored
- Griffin contributed a hit and drove in a run
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Bowen Powell had a pair of hits and a run scored
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Tanner McCammon and
Ben Karpowicz each scored a run
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Chad Harvey struck out eight in seven innings, allowing four runs on three hits
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Carson Starnes struck out four in four innings, allowing two runs on two hits
SECOND INNING
- An Evans walk, Griffin single and
Bradley Hart sacrifice put Bulldogs on second and third
- A Benamati sacrifice fly got the 'Dogs on the board
FIFTH INNING
- Back-to-back hit batters started the Newberry fifth
- A Finn McLaughlin three-run homer gave the Wolves a 3-1 lead
SIXTH INNING
- Evans launched a solo shot to right to cut the lead to two
SEVENTH INNING
- A solo homer from Zane McLendon gave Newberry a 4-2 advantage
EIGHTH INNING
- A Karpowicz walk and Courville single put two on for Wingate
- Evans lined a two-run triple down the right field line to tie it
- Benamati's two-out, RBI single up the middle put the 'Dogs on top 5-4
NINTH INNING
- Nick Foster led off the frame with a solo homer to left, tying it a five
ELEVENTH INNING
- McLaughlin connected on a solo homer to right, giving Newberry a 6-5 lead
- Powell led off the bottom of the frame with a walk, while McCammon was hit by a pitch
- Farrell laid down a bunt to move the runners up, and reached first on an error to load the bases
- Courville's sacrifice fly to center tied the game and moved the winning run to third
- Griffin lined one to deep left, plating McCammon on the sacrifice fly to give Wingate the win
WRAPUP
- Starnes got the win, moving to 3-1 on the year
- He allowed two runs on two hits in four innings of work, striking out four
- Will Rissmiller took the loss, allowing two runs in two-thirds of an inning, walking two and hitting a batter
UP NEXT
- Wingate will face third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday afternoon
- The game has been moved back to a 2 p.m. start due to the threat of rain in the morning
- The winner and loser of that contest will be back in action Sunday at Ron Christopher Stadium
