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Pioneers edged 5-4 by Newberry in SAC Tournament

Pioneers edged 5-4 by Newberry in SAC Tournament
Box score

FOREST CITY, N.C. --- Andy Vogel broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning as sixth-seeded Newberry remained unbeaten in the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament with a 5-4 win over fourth-seeded Tusculum College Thursday afternoon at McNair Field.

The Wolves (24-25), who upset top-seeded Catawba 4-2 in the tournament opener on Wednesday, will play Friday at noon against the winner of Thursday's late game between Wingate and Lincoln Memorial. The Pioneers (31-16) were eliminated from the tournament with their second loss.

With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Chris Love (Columbia, S.C.) led off with a single. After an out, Vogel launched an 0-2 pitch from Tusculum starter Dylan Hochevar (Wray, Colo.) over the left-field wall for his fifth home run of the season and a 5-3 Newberry lead.

Tusculum mounted a comeback in the ninth against reliever Tyler Sturkie (West Columbia, S.C.), as Sean Cotten (Mooresville, N.C.) doubled with one out and scored on a single by Cody Coffman (Cape Coral, Fla.). The Pioneers put runners on first and third with two outs, but Sturkie got Matt Henriksen (Hingham, Mass.) on a grounder to short to end the game.

The Pioneers finished with a 13-9 advantage in hits over the Wolves, but stranded 11 runners on base. Tusculum went out in order just once and left five runners in scoring position in the contest.

Henriksen led the Pioneers at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, while Cotten, Coffman and Aaron Guinn (Norris, Tenn.) all had two hits apiece. Branfy Arias (La Romana, D.R.) drove in three of the Pioneers' four runs with a two-run single and a groundout.

Love paced the Wolves by going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored, and Evan Darr (North Augusta, S.C.) added two hits in four trips including a double.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Wolves broke through with three runs against Hochevar. With one out, Terrence Gray (Newberry, S.C.) and Kevin Rufus (Andrews, S.C.) had back-to-back singles, and Love connected for a two-out bloop double down the right-field line to drive in Gray for a 1-0 lead.

With runners at second and third, Sanchez Gartman (Newberry, S.C.) followed with a single into right field to knock home Rufus and Love to give the Wolves a 3-0 lead.

The Pioneers answered with two runs in the top of the sixth off Newberry starter Cole Robison (Greer, S.C.). Rolondo Bonner (Garner, N.C.) and Guinn opened the frame with singles and a fielder's choice loaded the bases with one out. Arias then singled to left to knock in Bonner and Guinn and cut the Wolves lead to 3-2, but Robison escaped further damage.

Tusculum knotted the game 3-3 in the eighth as Guinn led off with an infield single and took third on a double by Henriksen. A grounder to third prevented any advance, and Robison departed in favor of Sturkie. Arias greeted the Newberry reliever with a grounder to first that enabled Guinn to score the tying run.

Robison worked 7 1/3 innings for the Wolves, throwing 124 pitches and giving up three runs on 10 hits while striking out two and walking one. Sturkie (3-0) was charged with a run on three hits in the ninth.

Hochevar dropped to 5-2 for the Pioneers after allowing five runs on nine hits in 7 1/3 innings, with eight strikeouts and three walks. Jason Gardner (West Henrietta, N.Y.) came on with a runner on in the eighth and retired both batters he faced.

- TC -

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