DANVILLE, Ky. – Berry College closed Southern Athletic Association regular season play with a split at Centre College on Saturday. Berry lost game one, 3-2, but rebounded with a 6-1 victory in the nightcap.
Berry is now 26-13 and 14-7 in the SAA. Centre moved to 13-22, 7-12.
In game one, a pitching duel between Berry's, Ryan O'Connell (5-0), and Centre's, Stephen Shunk (1-5), was the main attraction. Both pitchers hurled seven innings. O'Connell gave up five hits that allowed two runs to score, both unearned. He was able to strikeout five batters. Shunk gave up two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.
Between both teams, they got pinned with nine errors in the game. This hurt BC early in the game when two unearned runs.
Sam Joyce and Doug Heath tacked on a pair of hits each, while Joyce was able to touch home once. TC Boyd collected a hit and scored once on an error by the Colonels defense.
For Centre, Kyle Cook and Trey Litsey stood out offensively. Cook knocked three hits while scoring twice out of the three runs for the home club. Litsey collected a pair of hits of his own.
In game two, the Vikes jumped out to a quick start with three runs in the first inning. The bats for Berry woke up in game two with a combined 12 hits compared to Centre's three hits.
Boyd went 3-3, scored three times with a double and two singles. Alex McGill, Alfred Francis, and Joyce each smoked two hits in the matchup. McGill touched home once and plated two RBIs. Joyce tacked on two RBIs of his own also.
Will Estes (1-0) started for Berry where he went five strong innings while only giving up a run that was unearned. Estes struck out two and only gave up a pair of hits. Braxton Teal and Joey Bell closed the game going the last two innings and only giving up one hit with no runs scoring.
Jordan Short (1-4) started for the Colonels and got pinned with the loss. Short went three innings and gave up seven hits that resulted in four runs. Alex Edwards pitched three and a third innings with giving up two runs on five hits.
The Vikings host Maryville on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Berry will host a four-team SAA bracket next weekend. Rhodes, Centre and Oglethorpe will battle with the hosts. The winner will face the victor of the Birmingham-Southern bracket in a three-game series the following weekend for the championship.