WINGATE, N.C. --- The third-seeded Newberry College softball team walked off with a 2-1 win over sixth-seeded Tusculum College in the opening round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Thursday, advancing into the winner's bracket on an eighth inning walk off single by Richelle Mirabal at the Wingate University softball complex.
Newberry (30-11) out-hit the Pioneers (17-26) by a 9-4 margin, as senior Amanda Huckestein (19-6) allowed one run, scattered four hits and struck out 11 batters en route to a complete game win for the Scarlett and Gray. Mirabel went 3-for-4 on the day, driving in both of Newberry's runs, while Aissa Gatewood and Sara Powell each tallied a pair of hits.
Tusculum's Savannah Ewing led the Pioneers with a crucial double in the sixth inning to account for one of two extra-base hits in the game. Brittany Hunley drove in the game-tying run for the Pioneers as Phlyscia Powell and Lynnsey Jett each tallied a hit. Holli Cadenhead (8-12) kept the Pioneers in the game, allowing two runs on nine hits in seven and two-thirds innings of work, while striking out three.
Newberry tallied the game's first run in the second, taking an early 1-0 on an RBI single by Mirabal that scored Stephanie Blazer. Ewing answered for the Pioneers in the sixth, ripping a one-out double down the left field line to put runners on second and third after Lynnsey Jett reached on an error to lead off the frame. Hunley then laced a single to center, scoring pinch-runner Tasha Morrell from third to knot the score at 1-1 and force extra innings.
The Scarlett and Gray provided the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth, when Mirabal dropped a two-out walk-off single between the shortstop and third baseman, allowing Powell to score from third after stroking a lead-off double down the left field line.
Tusculum returns to the diamond on Friday morning against the loser of second-seeded Carson-Newman College and seventh-seeded Lincoln Memorial University. First pitch is set for 9 a.m. at Forest Hills High School in Marshville, N.C.
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