FLORENCE, SC – Sophomore
Charlie Bussey III chopped a run-scoring double over the third baseman's head in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift 20th-ranked Francis Marion University to a 2-1 victory Newberry College on Sunday (Apr. 27) and a sweep of their three-game non-conference baseball series. It also represented the second consecutive game for Bussey III to drive in the winning run in the Patriots' last at bat.
Francis Marion finishes the regular season at 39-11, the team's best season since 2012 when the Patriots last advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament. First-year head coach
Jeff Jefferson also directed FMU to a 25-5 home mark – most home wins in program history bettering a pair of 24-win campaigns in 1988 and 2005.
Francis Marion, the top seed in this week's Conference Carolina Tournament in Gastonia, N.C., will play the Shorter University/Emmanuel University winner on Thursday (May 1) at 11 a.m.
Prior to first pitch on Sunday, the Patriots recognized their 15 seniors, and several played key roles in the victory.
A Newberry miscue staked Francis Marion to a 1-0 lead in the third. With two outs, senior outfielder
Caleb Oakley singled sharply to right field. When Newberry freshman right-hander Jacob Clark (7-5) tried to pick Oakley off first base, his throw was wild, and Oakley sped all the way around to third base. Bussey III followed with a grounder to shortstop, but the Player of the Year candidate beat the throw to first for an RBI infield single.
FMU senior righty Deamon Woodruff got the Senior Day start and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings. Fellow senior righty
Danny Leo (5-0) came on in relief and finished the game, allowing only one run on two hits with nine strikeouts – one shy of his career high.
Newberry second baseman Jesse Free tied the contest with a two-out RBI-single back up the middle in the seventh inning. The Wolves were held to just one hit over the first six innings.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Oakley tripled to the right centerfield gap. With the infield drawn in, Bussey III hit a high chopper over the leaping third baseman's glove and Bussey III hustled into second with a double as Oakley scored.
Bussey III registered his seventh three-hit game of the season, and the two RBIs pushed his season total to a team-leading 55. Oakley, a native of Mullins, finished with two hits.
Junior centerfielder
Will Dorrell went 1-for-3 to extend his streak of safely reaching base to 40 games.
#20 Francis Marion Univ. 2, Newberry College 1 (Apr 27, 2025 at Florence, SC)
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Newberry College.... 000 000 100 - 1 3 1 (25-25)
Francis Marion Univ. 001 000 01X - 2 6 0 (39-11)
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Pitchers: Newberry College - Parker Fenton; Ryan Barnett(2); Jacob Clark(2) and Luke White; Logan Busenlehner. Francis Marion Univ. -
Daemon Woodruff;
Danny Leo(3) and
Dariel Villaran Goundis.
Win-
Danny Leo (5-0) Loss-Jacob Clark (7-5) T-2:08 pm A-187
Weather: Mostly Cloudy,72,Wind SW@12mph
P. Fenton faced 1 batter in the 2nd.
