Berry's baseball team saw the fruits of their labors for the entire season pay off Saturday as the Vikings clinched the second-place position in the Southern Athletic Association standings. Following two losses to Birmingham-Southern in an SAA doubleheader, 9-6 and 9-1, Saturday, the Vikings have a conference record of 13-8, one game better than Hendrix and Rhodes.

Because the Vikings finished in second place in the SAA standings, Berry will host a four-team pod as part of the first round of the SAA Championship next weekend at William R. Bowdoin Field. Berry will welcome Rhodes, Millsaps, and Centre to campus, with exact start times to be released early in the week.

In Saturday's twin bill at BSC, the Vikings competed, but the No. 4 team in the country would eventually overwhelm the Vikings for a pair of victories.

Game One: Birmingham-Southern 9, Berry 6
The Vikings took an early lead in the opener as Wesley Wade connected on a solo homer with two men out in the opening frame. Jackson Halla would retire the first six men he faced on the mound, but BSC broke through with four runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead.

After a scoreless fourth, the Vikings (25-15) answered back, scoring three runs in the fifth to tie the game. Levi Cloud started the inning with a triple, then scored on Jack Poist's RBI fielder's choice. BC would load the bases, with Wade drawing a walk for his second RBI of the game. Andrew Pendleton would send a sacrifice fly to right one batter later, scoring Poist to knot the score, 4-4.

The tie would be short-lived as three RBI hits in the bottom of the fifth gave the home side back the lead, 7-4. After a wild pitch made it 8-4 in the sixth, the Vikings showed some mettle by scoring twice in the seventh. Joey Garcia's RBI infield hit plated John D'Amelio for an 8-5 game, with Trace Cate doubling home Trevor Barron one batter later to make it 8-6.

BSC would tack on an insurance run in the eighth, and Berry would be unable to bring the tying run to the plate in the final frame as the Vikings fell in the opener, 9-6.

Game Two: Birmingham-Southern 9, Berry 1
In the seven-inning contest in the series, the Vikings fell behind 3-0 in the first on a three-run homer. Wade would collect another RBI in the third to add to his total as his single to short plated Dalton Smith.

That would be as close as the Vikings would get for the rest of the game. A run in the fourth, two runs in the fifth, and three runs in the sixth for the Panthers (31-7, 18-3) would be enough to see the home side complete the sweep.

Joey Garcia had two hits to lead the Vikings offensively in the contest.