SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A marathon elimination game spelled the end of the 2012 Newman baseball season. Just hours after dropping a 7-0 semi-final loss to top-seeded St. Mary's, the Jets bowed out with a 2-1 loss in 12 innings to Arkansas-Fort Smith Saturday evening at Sullivan Field in San Antonio, Texas.

Newman (28-23) took the early advantage in Saturday's game. As the first batter of the game, Ben Wagner reached on a fielding error in centerfield, moved to second on Terrell Brown's sacrifice bunt, then eventually scored on Ruben Marrero's single through the right side. The run gave the Jets a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

Arkansas-Fort Smith (29-21) answered with a run of its own in the fourth, and knotted the game at 1-1 after four innings.

The next five innings turned out to be a classic pitcher's duel. Newman starter Brandon Droge was relieved in favor of Gage Daniels in the seventh after allowing just one unearned run on five hits with three walks in six innings of work. Daniels was equally effective in his longest outing of the year, and was on the mound into the 12th, when a leadoff walk for the Lions turned into the game-winning run on a two-out single up the middle, and Arkansas-Fort Smith ended Newman's hopes of an appearance in the championship game with a 2-1 loss.

Daniels was saddled with the loss after a 5.2-inning performance in which he allowed just one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts, but ended his season with a 2-2 record.

Four Jets combined for eight of Newman's nine hits on Saturday's contest. Tanner Vinson went 2-for-4 at the plate, while Jordan Ollenberger and Corey Cowan each went 2-for-5 in their at-bats. Ruben Marrero added a 2-for-6 outing with an RBI to the cause.

St. Mary's 7, Newman 0 (Championship Semi-Final)
Newman fell victim to a complete-game shutout from St. Mary's pitcher Rene Solis, who showed why he has posted 12 wins this season. Solis allowed just five hits to the Jets, while throwing six strikeouts in a full nine-inning performance.

Jets' starter Jacob Furr suffered the loss, and fell to 4-5 on the season after allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits with five strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work.

The back-to-back losses force the Jets to settle for a 28-23 final record on the season.