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Joey Garcia three-run homer in the second inning sent Berry on its way as the Vikings defeated Emory, 14-4, in eight innings of baseball action in Atlanta Tuesday afternoon.
The Vikings (16-19) have now won six of their last eight contests as they head into the final regular season series of the campaign at Centre this weekend. Three of those wins have been by 10 runs or more.
After the Vikings drew first blood with the Garcia shot,
Andrew Pendleton added another blow with an RBI single one inning later. While the Eagles (23-11) would bounce back with two in the bottom of the inning, Berry tacked on another run via
Zachary Hardee's RBI single to short in the fourth.
Emory answered the run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Eagles had no response to the six-run fifth that the Vikings put on the board.
John D'Amelio's sacrifice fly started the scoring, with
Levi Cloud tacking on an RBI single one batter later. A walk would load the bases for
Garrett Lang, who pulled a single through the left side of the infield for one of his four hits on the day, plating a pair and making it 9-3. Two batters later,
Nick Brunswick capped the inning with a two-run knock into right.
The teams traded runs in the sixth, with Cloud collecting another RBI on a single back up the middle.
Riley Uhls would lift a sacrifice fly one inning later to make it 13-4, but Berry left the bases loaded with a chance to reach the 10-run threshold. The Vikings would get there one batter later, as though
Caleb Spikes grounded into a double play with the bases full, a run crossed the plate to make it 14-4. Emory would leave two men on in the bottom of the inning, and the Vikings would close the game out an inning early.
CJ Whaley pitched two scoreless innings to start the game and was credited with the win to improve to 2-1.
Ethan Crump worked three scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his first save of the season.
Berry's final Southern Athletic Association series of the regular season starts Friday in Danville, Ky., at 6 p.m. The Vikings could move as high as second in the SAA standings with a sweep, but getting swept could drop Berry to as low as sixth in the standings, depending on other results from around the league.
