Thomas Johnson and Cory Pitts each belted a home run and Josh Dilbeck closed the game in thrilling fashion as Berry defeated Bryan College 6-3 Tuesday in Dayton, Tenn.

The win was the fourth in a row for the Vikings, who improved to 8-5 overall.

Dilbeck entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth inning, but left the bases stranded, striking out two of the three batters he faced, to close out the victory.

Johnson was 3-for-4 in the game, also hitting a double.  Pitts, whose homer came on the first pitch of the game, was 1-for-2 and drew a pair of walks.  He also stole three bases.

Austin Neely had a big game at the plate, as well, racking up three hits, including a double, and driving in a pair of runs.

Casey Gray earned the victory to improve to 2-0 on the mound for Berry.  In six innings of work, Gray allowed one run on five hits and struck out five batters.

Jon Stump worked one-third of an inning before handing the ball to Trent Hillis with the bases loaded.  Hillis stranded all three runners. In the ninth, Hillis allowed two runs before being removed with the bases loaded in favor of Dilbeck.  Like Hillis in the seventh, Dilbeck left the runners where he found them, closing out the game and picking up his first save.

Josh Harris took the loss for the Lions, which fell to 11-5 on the season. 

Berry returns to action March 5, when it plays single games against both Birmingham-Southern and North Park University in Birmingham, Ala.

- BerryVikings.com -