MEMPHIS, TN – The Vikings came out victorious for the seventh consecutive time on Saturday afternoon, completing their sweep of the Lynx by a final score of 6-5.
The Vikings started out hot once again, as a single from Riley Uhls in the two-hole and a couple of errors led to him coming home for the first run of the game as they took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the first.
Jackson Halla toted the mound first for the Vikings and had two of his four strikeouts in the bottom of the first to get the Vikings out unscathed despite a lead-off knock.
The Vikings went away quietly in the top of the second, and faced danger in the bottom with runners on second and third. Halla calmly cleared his mechanism and got the final two outs to produce another scoreless frame for the Viking defense.
Finally, in the bottom of the third, the Lynx evened the score and broke the 1-0 stalemate. The Vikings had a readily available response as Jacob Bridges grabbed himself a lead-off double at the top of the fourth. Tanaka Mukono would then step in and score Bridges with a single to the Lynx second base side to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
The pendulum continued to swing in the bottom of the fourth, as Rhodes scored again to tie things up. A few innings later at the bottom of the fifth, the Lynx would roar again, scoring again to take their first lead of the game, 2-3.
The score held until the top of the eighth, when the Vikings' will to win reared its head. With one away, the reliable Bridges stepped up a slapped a single into center. Austin Jetmore then kept the line moving with a single of his own. This set up Mukono, who would pick up his second RBI of the game and show his love for Bridges once again as he scored to even things out.
The Vikings attack was not finished though, as a Chance Edmonds double scored Mukono and Ayden Frazier, who stepped in to run for Jetmore to make it a 5-3 lead for Berry.
The Lynx would not go away, as they responded with two runs to tie the game heading into the ninth.
Unfortunately for the Lynx, late-inning fireworks have been extremely explosive for the Vikings as of late. With the Vikings All-American up to bat, Riley Uhls saw an 0-1 pitch and gave it a ticket to exit out of the ballpark, gifting the Vikings a 6-5 advantage heading into the final frame.
The Vikings managed three quick outs to complete the three-game sweep. The Vikings are back in action for the SAA Tournament on a seven-game winning streak, beginning on Thursday May 7 at Advent-Health Stadium.
