Thomas Johnson had two hits and three of his Berry teammates drove in a run, but Birmingham-Southern completed a three-game sweep of the Vikings with a 5-4 victory Sunday at Striplin Field in Birmingham.

Berry held a 2-1 lead after scoring a run in the first on an RBI groundout by Cason Dremann and another when Stephen Gaylor dashed home on a wild pitch in the fifth.

But in the bottom of the fifth, the Panthers would tie the score in the same manner in which they lost the lead in top of the inning, as Aaron Justice crossed the plate on a wild pitch.

BSC (18-5) took the lead for good in the sixth, plating three runs, thanks to an RBI single by Evan Grovenstein and a two-run single by David Bourbonnais.

Berry (11-14) would pull to within a run in the eighth, when Brandyn Jackson pushed home TC Boyd from second with an RBI single and Drew McDuffie drew a two-out bases-loaded walk to make the score 5-4.

But the next batter, Austin Neely, flew out to left field to end the inning and, after Josh Dilbeck allowed just an intentional walk in the top of the ninth, Bourbannais came on to pitch in the ninth and struck out the side in order to nail down the victory for the Panthers.

Three Birmingham-Southern pitchers combined to hold Berry to seven hits, including Blake Yance, who earned the win in three innings of work. Yance (4-0) allowed two unearned runs on four hits.

Bourbonnais picked up his first save with his perfect inning.

Berry starter Cameron Rich (1-2) took the loss after allowing three runs on eight hits and three walks in five innings. Rich fanned five batters.

Levi Austin came on in relief of Rich in the sixth and allowed two runs (one earned) in two innings before Dilbeck took the ball to start the ninth.

The Vikings host a three-game series with Huntingdon this coming weekend. The teams will play a single game Friday at 5 p.m., and a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.

- BerryVikings.com -