JACKSON, Miss. - A
Jack Poist single in the bottom of the 11th inning propelled the Vikings past the Owls of The Mississippi University for Women on Sunday afternoon in Berry's final game of the Millsaps Baseball Classic.
The extra innings win secured a perfect weekend record of 3-0 for the Vikings which included wins on Friday and Saturday night coming against Millikin and Huntingdon respectively. Pitching kept the Vikings competitive, as it had all weekend long. Strong performances from
Charles Stephenson and
Will Macolino paved the way for
Mason Carnes to collect his first win of the young season.
Berry's 14-hit performance was bookended by a pair of hits from Poist who also tripled to open the game offensively for the Vikings, eventually coming around to score on an RBI groundout from
Dalton Smith. MUW then responded with a run of their own in the top of the 2nd inning, tying the ball game.
The Vikings then broke the tie in the bottom of the 3rd on the backs of two singles from Berry's two most experienced hitters, seniors
Dalton Smith and
Spence Johns, making the lead 2-1. The lead held up until the top of the 6th inning when MUW plated two runs to take a one run advantage into the late innings.
On the mound, Stephenson tossed 5.1 innings, scattering four hits and giving up just two earned runs. Macolino bridged the gap with three strikeouts before handing the ball over to Carnes in the 8th, who would eventually strike out seven over four innings to close out the game.Â
The Berry lineup once again had the answer in the 7
th, manufacturing a run via a
Blake Hyman single and another RBI to the credit of
Dalton Smith which would knot the game up at three a piece until the 11
th inning.
After surrendering the potential game-winning run in the top of half of the 11
th, hits from
Levi Cloud, Hyman, and Poist proved fatal to the Owls as the Vikings walked it off to complete the weekend sweep.
The Vikings will take their three-game winning streak into LaGrange on Tuesday to face the Panthers at 5:00 p.m.
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