GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Danton Hyman and Ben Herring recorded five hits each on the day to lead the Newberry baseball team to a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader sweep over Tusculum Saturday at Pioneer Park.
The Wolves (19-15, 11-7 SAC) tied the game with a run in the ninth, scored two in the 10th and held off a Tusculum rally to win Saturday's opener 9-8 in extra innings. Newberry southpaw Ryan Harbin pitched a complete-game two-hitter in a 3-1 win in the night-cap.
Newberry bounces back from Friday's 7-4 loss to the Pioneers (18-18, 10-8 SAC) as the Wolves have won six of their last seven games, capture their first-ever series win in Greeneville and snap a four-game losing streak at Pioneer Park.
Game 1: Newberry 9, Tusculum 8 (10 innings)
Herring went 4-for-4 with three RBI and drove in what proved to be the game-winner in the 10th as the Wolves rallied to a 9-8 victory.
Newberry finished the game with 16 hits with the only extra-base knock coming on Herring's two-run homer in the fifth that broke a 4-4 tie. Tanner Lane added three hits, while Hyman and Colin Allman accounted for two hits apiece.
Tusculum posted 13 hits, including Zack Finchum's 3-for-5 performance and two hits each from Daulton Martin, Edison Cabrera and Colby Skeen.
Newberry jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to three hits, including Tyler Ackard's two-run single.
TC answered with four runs of its own in the bottom of the first including RBI singles from Skeen and Cabrera along with a RBI ground out from Trey Hinton.
The score remained tied until the fifth when Herring sent a deep drive to center field with two outs that cleared the wall for his second homer of the season to give the Wolves a 6-4 lead.
The Pioneers battled back again with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game including a RBI single from Jarel McDade. TC took its first and only lead of the day in the seventh inning when Finchum led off with a single and later scored on Hinton's base it for a 7-6 lead.
The score remained that way until the ninth as TC reliever Pedro Rodriguez, entering his fourth inning of relief, retired the first two batters of the frame. Newberry battled back as Tyler White singled and moved to second when Herring was hit by a pitch.
Mitch McCain, one of the heroes of last night's win over Newberry, was looking to pick up his second save in as many days. Pinch-hitter Tommy Passerello came through with a single to right to drive in White to tie the game at 7-7.
In the bottom of the ninth, Finchum led off with an infield single and eventually moved to third base with two outs. Reliever Charlie Fessler threw three pitches and got an infield pop up to end the threat.
In the top of the 10th, Olenchuk was hit by a pitch with one out. A ground out moved him into scoring position and Ackard drove him in a single to left to retake the lead for the first time since the fifth inning. Herring added an insurance run with his RBI single for a 9-7 Newberry lead.
Wolves' closer Shannon Smith came on in the bottom of the 10th but the Pioneers got the first two batters aboard thanks to a leadoff walk by Seth DeHaven and a base hit from pinch-hitter Sam Urban. Smith answered with a pair of huge strikeouts of Martin and McDade. Bradley Evans worked a walk to load the bases and Finchum's infield chopper scored DeHaven from third to cut the deficit in half at 9-8. But Smith ended the game with a fielder's choice out.
Fessler picked up the victory to go to 2-0 on the year, while Smith earned his fourth save of the season. McCain suffered the loss to fall to 2-4.
Game 2: Newberry 3, Tusculum 1
Hyman went 3-for-4 with a triple and a run scored while Dalton Lansdowne posted two hits with a RBI as Newberry completed the sweep with a 3-1 win.
Harbin (5-1) went the distance as he worked around two hits and five walks with his only hiccup coming on McDade's solo homer in the fourth.
TC starter Chase McAllister (2-1), who threw five pitches to get the last out in game one, also went the distance for the Pioneers as he scattered nine hits, three runs, two earned, walked none and struck out eight in his 121-pitch performance.
Newberry scored a run in the second inning and another in the third to take a 2-0 lead. In the second, White was hit by a pitch, moved to third base on Herring's one-out single and scored on Sam Jones sacrifice bunt. In the third, Hyman tripled to right field and scored on Lansdowne's base hit.
McDade cut the lead in half with his team-leading sixth homer of the season. The Wolves added an insurance run as NBY took advantage of a TC error and Jones responded with a two-out single to extend the lead to 3-1.
McDade's homer would be the final hit allowed by Harbin as he worked around two walks down the stretch and retired the side in order in the seventh for the win. Harbin accounted for nine strikeouts in his 112-pitch effort.
McDade got on base in all three of his plate appearances as he went 2-for-2 with a walk.
Martin, who had two hits in the first game and a walk in the second, extends his streak to 48 consecutive games reaching base safely.
Tusculum wraps up its 10-game home-stand and will be on the road for seven of its next eight games including Wednesday's 3:30 p.m. contest at King. The Tornado defeated the Pioneers 9-5 on Mar. 13 in Greeneville.
