The heart of Berry's lineup drove in 10 runs as Berry took game one of a baseball doubleheader from Oglethorpe, 14-1, Friday afternoon in Southern Athletic Association play from Atlanta. In game two, the Vikings fell 10-4.
Game One: Berry 14, Oglethorpe 1 (7)
Joey Garcia drove in four runs while
Wesley Maxey and
John D'Amelio each drove in three as the Vikings scored 14 runs over the final four innings for a run-rule win over the Stormy Petrels.
Berry took advantage of an OU error to score the first two runs of the game in the fourth. With runners on the corners, Garcia stole second, with the throw from home bouncing into centerfield. Garcia moved up to third and D'Amelio trotted home to give Berry the 1-0 lead.
Andrew Pendleton would ground out later in the at bat to score Garcia and make it 2-0.
The lead swelled to five in the fifth. Maxey and D'Amelio each had an RBI single, then Garcia beat out a potential double play ball at first to drive in the third run of the inning.
Oglethorpe would score a single run in the home half of the fifth, but Berry started to turn the screws tighter in the sixth. First, Maxey would single back up the middle to score
Garrett Lang and
John Poist. Then, D'Amelio would double into the gap in left center. While Maxey would be thrown out at the plate,
Nick Brunswick would cross home first, making it 8-1.
Six runs would come home in the seventh as the Vikings ended the scheduled nine-inning game in the doubleheader two innings early. After a wild pitch scored the first run of the inning, Poist singled to bring in
Wesley Wade to make it 10-1. D'Amelio capped his three-RBI game with a single to score Poist, then Garcia put the cherry on top as he cranked a three-run blast out to left to make it 14-1.
The offensive efforts made a winner out of
Patrick O'Rourke (3-1) on the mound. The hurler allowed one run on five hits with three strikeouts in six innings of work.
Game Two: Oglethorpe 10, Berry 4
The Stormy Petrels would get a measure of revenge in game two as a five-run first inning put the home side ahead for good en route to the victory.
Berry was down 7-0 in the third when Poist grounded out to score
Caleb Spikes with BC's first run of the game. After OU answered in the bottom half, Berry scored a pair in the fourth. A bases loaded walk to Wade made it 8-2, with Lang beating out a double play ball for a fielder's choice to make it 8-3. The Vikings would score again in the sixth but couldn't overcome the early deficit.
Both teams now have a 3-5 record in SAA play. The rubber game is set for 2 p.m. Saturday in Atlanta.