ROME, Ga. – Grant Perkins singled in Ryan Smith for the winning run in the final frame, as the Berry College baseball team defeated Centre, 3-2, in the second game of a Southern Athletic Association doubleheader on Friday. The Colonels prevailed in game one, 9-2.
Berry is now 17-13-1 and 6-5-1 in the SAA. Centre moved to 3-20 and 1-13 in conference play.
Perkins went 2-for-3 to lead the Berry College offense. Ryan O'Connell (2-3) earned the complete-game win on the mound for the Vikes, allowing 5 hits, 2 earned runs, and striking out 2 Colonels in the process.
Both the Vikings and the Colonels scored 2 early runs, but neither could reach home again, as the score remained tied, 2-2, going into the bottom of the seventh.
Smith singled into center field to start the rally, and Kevin Scott reached first on a Centre error. Perkins then finished the game with a single into left field which plated the final run.
In the opener, the Colonels claimed their first Southern Athletic Association victory in 12 tries this season with a 9-2 win.
Centre broke through with a 3-run second inning to grab an early 3-0 edge.
Trey Litsey reached base with one out on a hot shot grounder that ate up Berry first baseman Alex McGill for an error, and Greyson Evans and Andrew Olson followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases.
Zach Montgomery then stepped up to bat, and grounded a ball to the third baseman Alfred Francis, who attempted to get the force play at home plate. Francis' throw to the home, however, was wide and forced catcher Devin Skelton off the plate, allowing Litsey to cross safely for the first run of the afternoon.
Grant Herald followed with an RBI single up the middle, and Charlie Grigsby capped the Colonels' three-run inning with a run-scoring fielder's choice to plate Olson.
After five scoreless innings by both teams, Centre gained separation with a 5-run eighth inning and its final run in the ninth to assume a 9-0 advantage going into the last half-inning.
The Vikings tallied its lone 2 runs of game one in their final time to bat. With one away and runners on the corners, pinch hitter Hunter White lifted a fly ball to center, deep enough to bring home Skelton for a sacrifice fly.
Berry elected to send yet another pinch hitter to bat with two outs, and Kris Patel delivered with an RBI double down the left-field line to plate Will Baumgartner to account for the final score, 9-2.
Ben Jernigan (4-4) made the start for the Vikings in the opener and was tagged with the loss. He pitched 6 innings and allowed 6 hits and 3 runs (2 earned). Jernigan walked none and struck out 4.
For the Colonels, starting pitcher Rob Caudill (1-5) earned his first victory this spring with 7-plus innings of 3-hit ball. He surrendered no runs and had three walks, a hit batsman and six strikeouts.
The teams play the rubber game of the SAA series on Saturday at 1 p.m.