Newman’s lineup has shown this season that it can abruptly put a game away early with one big inning.

Visiting Princeton saw that firsthand as the Comets scored eight runs to end Monday’s Three Rivers East contest in the fifth inning for a 12-2 win.

It was the sixth time that Newman (7-1, 1-0) has scored 11 or more runs this season. The Comets tallied seven hits and drew 11 walks in the win, bouncing back from last Wednesday’s 8-4 loss to Lena-Winslow.

Newman’s defense got back on track and Drake Cole pitched five innings of five-hit baseball with three strikeouts and three walks for the Comets.

Garret Matznick, typically Newman’s leadoff hitter, doubled and scored three runs. He drew a walk, stole two bases and scored on a wild pitch during Newman’s big fifth inning. He said it was probably the first time since freshman year he was hitting fifth.

Princeton starting pitcher Braden Shaw held Newman to four runs in four innings pitched before exiting with 81 pitches thrown.

Matznick said his team is able to pounce on teams at times.

“Once they change a pitcher or they make an error or something, we usually are good at capitalizing off of it,” he said. “If they make a mistake, you’ve got to be able to score off that.”

Newman scored three runs in the first inning and one in the third. Shaw hit a two-run single in the fourth to make it 4-2, but Cole retired the Tigers in order in the fifth before the offense closed it out.

“They’re always going to be tough to beat,” Princeton coach Patrick Smith said. “I think we gave them way too many, putting way too many guys on base. And then they do what they do on the basepaths.

“They got big hits when they needed them, and kind of busted it open from there.”

Newman scored three runs against Jack Oester and five against Cayden Benavidez. The last three runs came with two outs.

Michael Morse had three RBIs for Newman, Jameson Hanlon had two and four others had one. The Comets out-hit Princeton 7-5.

Smith said Shaw settled in after the first inning and competed before he went past his planned pitch count.

“It’s a cold day, so we’re still kind of trying to stretch our guys out,” he said. “We’re not letting them go the full 105 yet. But I thought he did a really nice job to keep us in the game, especially after that first inning that we had.”

Newman coach Kenny Koerner said his team’s approach at the plate has been good.

“Our at-bats have been good, sometimes we work deep counts early and see a lot of pitches,” he said. “It’s early in the season, it’s cold, it’s not easy to hit right now.”

Koerner said Cole is a pitcher that gets better as the season moves on.

“I thought he did a nice job tonight just battling through,” he said. “He limited his walks to three, which we like to see.”

Newman has yet to score fewer than four runs this season. The Comets play at Princeton on Thursday.

“When we get hot, we get hot,” Garet Wolfe said. “It’s all about the guys that lead off the inning. They have good at-bats, and they get on, it rolls through with the confidence throughout the order.”

It was a big bounce-back win for Newman after some costly errors led to a setback to a good Lena-Winslow team.

“We didn’t have our best that day,” Wolfe said. “It’s good to come out and have a comeback game and show who we are.”

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Newman’s Garret Matznick tags out Princeton’s Braden Shaw Monday, April 6, 2026. (Alex T. Paschal)