Eagles punched out in opener at Newberry, 13-2
March 7, 2009
NEWBERRY, S.C. - Sophomore pitcher Josh McElwee struck out 15 batters in 8-1/3 innings as the Newberry College baseball team cruised to a 13-2 South Atlantic Conference victory over visiting Carson-Newman College at the Smith Road Complex on Friday night.
Newberry moves to 10-7 overall and 4-0 in SAC play, while the Eagles drop to 12-9 overall and 1-5 in the league. The two teams will finish their conference series with a doubleheader tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Smith Road Complex.
McElwee's first nine outs all came via the punchout as he moved his season record to 3-0. The first ground ball out came in the fourth inning, as the sophomore retired 13 consecutive batters from the second through sixth innings to help seal the win.
Carson-Newman did get on the board first however. Derek Long (Jefferson City, Tenn.) led off the second inning with a single. He advanced to second on a passed ball, stole third and then gave the Eagles the 1-0 lead on another passed ball.
Newberry claimed the lead in the bottom of the third, as the Eagles had plenty of trouble with bunt defense. Michael Morin (Miami, Fla.) led off the frame with a single through the right side and advanced to second when pitcher Corbin Ariail (Elgin, S.C.) was unable to field a bunt from Jose Rosa (Keystone Heights, Fla.).
Derek Bley (Upper Arlington, Ohio) laid down another bunt and the Eagles' first baseman sailed the throw into foul territory, tying the game at 1-all and putting runners on second and third with no outs. After Ariail settled down and retired the next two batters, Newberry shortstop Casio Grider (Hephzibah, Ga.) singled up the middle on a full count to give Newberry the 3-1 lead.
Bley started Newberry's next rally in the bottom of the fifth with a one-out single to right-center. Phillip Bartz (LaCrescent, Minn.) followed him up by beating out an infield single and John Kirkland (Orlando, Fla.) loaded the bases with a single to left field. Grider blasted a deep sacrifice fly to center to plate Bley and Jovan Rohena (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) put Newberry up 6-1 with his two-run single through the right side.
Rohena - who finished the game 3-of-5 at the plate with four RBIs - made sure the rout was on in the bottom of the eighth, as he hooked his third homerun of the season down the right field line on the first pitch of the inning. Jim Pollack (Homer, Alaska) blasted reliever Jake McDonald from the game with a double off the wall in left, and Scott Horvath (Apopka, Fla.) homered on the first pitch from replacement Dustin Dalton.
Morin and Rosa were each hit by a pitch before McDonald was pulled and Bley drew a walk to load the bases. Bartz brought Morin home with a sac fly a n d a balk plated Rosa. After Grider walked, Rohena picked up his third RBI of the inning with a single and Grider later scored on a wild pitch. Newberry earned seven runs in the crazy eighth to continue to pull away from the Eagles.
Long tallied an RBI double in the top of the ninth, but it was far too little too late as the scarlet and gray picked up their fourth consecutive conference victory.
McElwee's 15 strikeouts are tied for fifth most in South Atlantic Conference history. Tonight marked his second highest K total, as he struck out 17 in a win over Brevard last season.
