BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Birmingham-Southern baseball team defeated Berry for the second time this tournament to win their third straight SAA Conference Tournament Championship.

After a stagnant first two innings, Cam McNearney broke the deadlock with an opposite field homer to right field to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. McNearney got his third RBI of the game in the next inning after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Also in the fourth inning, Noah Best crushed a grand slam over the high Striplin Field outfield nets to hand BSC a commanding 7-0 lead.

In the top of the sixth inning, Berry got on the board with a double and a balk to cut the deficit to five. Starting pitcher Hansen McCown exited the game with two outs in the top of the sixth inning and allowed four hits and two runs in his championship outing. Davis Williams came in to relieve McCown. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Luke DePiero doubled on a line drive to left center field to give the Panthers an 8-2 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Berry singled on a ground ball to the left side to make the deficit five once again. However, BSC once again replied. This time, Ian Hancock singled to the right side to stretch the lead back to six. In the top of the eighth inning, Berry started to fight back. The Vikings cut the lead to 9-4 after an RBI double and in the next at-bat, they hit an RBI single to cut the BSC lead to four. Berry then scored on a wild pitch in the following at-bat to make the score 9-6. The Panthers failed to stretch their lead in the bottom of the eighth and went into the final inning up three runs.

Ricky Harrison came in to pitch for BSC in the top of the ninth and was perfect. He retired all three Vikings he faced to earn the save and ensure the Panthers won their third consecutive SAA Tournament Championship by a score of 9-6.

Records
#1 Birmingham-Southern 36-9, #3 Berry 22-23

Up next
The Panthers will play in the NCAA Baseball Tournament Regional Round with the location, time, and opponents TBD.