WICHITA, Kan. — Playing at home for the first time in over a week, the Newman baseball team provided plenty of drama, sweeping a doubleheader from Texas-Permian Basin on a pair of walk-off victories to start the weekend's Heartland Conference series.
The Jets (18-8, 6-2 Heartland), saw the Falcons (8-21, 1-7 Heartland) rally late in both games, tying the game up in the top of the last inning of regulation in both games, but Newman answered back each time, grabbing a walk-off single from Jacob Hamerle to win 7-6 in the opener and following with a Lucas Norton sacrifice fly to win the nightcap 6-5.
Newman went back and forth with UTPB in the opener, as the Falcons twice came back to tie things up. The Jets jumped out to the early lead thanks to Tyler Bugner, Garett Thomas and Brian Canfield earning walks and Aaron Mack reaching on an error in the bottom of the first. Mitchell Beaudreau added to that lead with a single up the middle, and gave the Jets the 3-0 lead.
Hamerle singled and scored on a wild pitch in the second to boost the hosts' lead even farther, but UTPB responded with four runs on four hits in the top of the third to tie things up. The Jets went back in front with solo runs in the fifth and sixth, with Beaudreau getting his second RBI single of the game to score Canfield in the fifth and Thomas smacking a single through the right side in the sixth to plate Bugner.
The Falcons put another big number on the board to tie things back up at 6-6 in the top of the seventh, but Newman would have the last say. Jordan Doan led off the bottom half with a double to left center, and Hamerle followed with a long and winding at-bat, facing a 1-2 count after three pitches. He proceeded to foul off seven pitches and work the count full before driving the 13th pitch of the at-bat back through the middle, scoring Doan for the walk-off win.
Beaudreau went 3-for-4 with the two RBIs and a stolen base, while Hamerle notched a pair of hits. Lucas Schauer worked the first 6 1/3 innings but earned a no-decision, while Joe Cannady got the win out of the bullpen.
It didn't take the Jets long to get started in the second game either, as Mack and Canfield cracked back-to-back two-out doubles to stake the hosts to a 2-0 lead after the first inning. The Falcons managed to get one run back in the third, but Newman pushed the lead back to two runs in the bottom of the inning, as Bugner doubled to lead off and was driven in by Canfield's single to left.
Beaudreau added another RBI with a double in the sixth to knock in Nick Griffin, making it a three-run margin before the Falcons tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh to close the margin to one. The Jets answered back in the bottom half, as Bugner sent a line-drive shot over the fence in left for his second home run of the year. That proved to be a crucial run, as UTPB managed to tie things up in the top of the ninth.
The Jets couldn't answer in the bottom half, but did in the 10th, as Griffin singled, Beaudreau walked and Doan was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out. A strikeout bought the Falcons the slightest bit of breathing room, but Norton followed by lifting a fly ball to center — which was caught by the right fielder as UTPB brought an extra infielder in for the at-bat — to score Griffin and give the hosts a second walk-off.
Cannady picked up the win, his second of the day, by tossing the final two innings allowing just one runner by an error. The Jets cranked out 14 hits, with Bugner hitting for the cycle with a 4-for-5 game. Canfield and Griffin each went 3-for-5, and Newman put up seven extra-base hits while stealing two bases.
The two sides are back at McCarthy Field Saturday at 1 p.m. for the series finale.
