NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Anderson baseball team's quest for a berth in the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament ended with a 6-1 setback to homestanding Newberry Friday afternoon at the Smith Road Complex.

Anderson slipped to 18-29 overall and 9-16 in the conference, while Newberry improved to 21-24 and 13-12. The Trojans needed to sweep the three-game weekend series to earn a berth in the tourney, while the Wolves clinched a spot in the tournament, and can move to as high as the fourth seed depending on results around the league this weekend.

The Wolves grabbed an early 1-0 lead on junior Kevin Rufus' leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning, his fourth of the season, and added another run on a solo homer in the fourth inning, this time off the bat of senior Sanchez Gartman, boosting its' lead to 2-0.

Newberry plated four runs off five hits in the fifth inning to gain a six-run advantage, with Anderson answering by pushing a run across on just one hit in the top of the sixth. Sophomore Erick Sanderson ripped a one-out single to left field and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Junior Blake May followed by reaching on an error and Sanderson advanced to third, with the 6-foot-4 first baseman crossing the plate when a balk was called on Newberry pitcher Mario Rojas.

AU junior left fielder Jonathan Romano finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, while sophomore right-hander TJ Estes absorbed the loss for the Trojans. He dropped to 3-4 on the season after giving up six runs on seven hits, while tossing eight full innings.

Sophomore right-hander Mario Rojas earned the complete-game win for Newberry after surrendering just the one run off six hits.

The two teams are scheduled to wrap up their conference slate with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader . Barring any weather delays, the twinbill is scheduled for 1 p.m.