MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Third-seeded Southern Poly erased a three-run deficit, scoring the go-ahead run on three straight two-out hits in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to a 5-4 victory over Berry here in the first round of the Southern States Athletic Conference baseball tournament.

     The Hornets advance in the winners' bracket to take on second-seeded Auburn Montgomery at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Vikings battle Reinhardt in an elimination game Thursday morning at 10 in the tournament hosted by Faulkner University.

     The game was a sloppy one, with the teams combining for six errors. Of the nine runs scored in the game only two were earned.

     Southern Poly led 1-0 before Berry struck fo three runs in the top of the fourth, highlighted by Matt Thomas' two-run single. All three Viking runs in the inning were unearned. Berry increased the lead to 4-1 in the fifth on Ryan Starr's RBI groundout before the Hornets started battling back.

     Josh Grooms' run-scoring single capped a two-run fifth for Southern Poly, trimming the deficit to 4-3. One inning later Brett Ernst singled sharply to left, scoring Daniel Hester to tie the game.

     Berry's Logan Tunnello retired the first two Hornets in the bottom of the eighth before Hester and Andrew Gleason both singled to put runners on the corners. Ernst then hit a slow roller toward third, and when Viking catcher Andrew Morgan could not make a play the Hornets had the lead 5-4.

     Winning pitcher Mike Bell pitched out of a ninth-inning jam, getting Berry's Patrick Taylor to fly out deep to centerfield with two on base to end the game. Bell pitched five-plus innings in relief to earn the victory.