WICHITA, Kan. – The Newman baseball team started Heartland Conference play Thursday afternoon at McCarthy Field, a day earlier than originally scheduled against St. Edward's, but dropped the series opening doubleheader.
Kane McCarthy was the starting pitcher for the Jets (6-11) in Game 1 and held the Hilltoppers (14-8) scoreless in the first-three innings of the contest. Newman would trail 3-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth but bounced back by scoring five runs to steal the lead from St. Edward's.
Brian Canfield was the first Jet to cross the plate in the fourth byway of a Hilltopper error and
Rene Rivera had a sac fly to score
Nick Griffin to put the score at 4-2 with one out. The next at-bat
Easton Herring doubled to right center to drive in
Paul Rupnik to close the gap at 4-3. Aaaron Mack would score off a wild pitch to tie the score at 4-4 and
Jacob Hamerle broke the tie with an RBI single to right center, which scored Herring from third to make it 5-4 Newman after four complete innings.
The bases would be loaded in the sixth inning when Griffin took one for the team to extend the Jet lead out to 6-4, heading into the seventh inning. However, the Hilltoppers would not go away, retaking the lead by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh and go on to win Game 1, 7-6.
Newman and St. Edward's could not get on the scoreboard in the first-two innings of Game 2, but the Hilltoppers eventually got a run across in the top of the third and then another in top of the fourth to go up 2-0 after four complete innings.
The Jets had a runner in scoring position in the bottom of fifth with one out but could not manage to get him across the plate. The Hilltoppers extended their lead by scoring one run in the sixth and two in the seventh to go up 5-0 after seven complete innings.
Griffin got Newman on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning with an RBI single through the left side to bring in
Ked Bailey from third to make the score 5-1, which would be the final score of Game 2.
Griffin went 3-of-7 from the plate with two RBIs, one run and one double to lead the Jets in the doubleheader.
Newman finishes out its opening Heartland Conference series tomorrow with a single game starting at 1 p.m. at McCarthy Field.
