May 22, 2009
LEWISTON, Idaho -- The Berry baseball team pounded out 16 hits in a 10-5 win over Southern Polytechnic in the team's first game of the NAIA Avista World Series on Friday. The Vikings now equal the school record for wins in a season as they improve to 46-14 this season. The Hornets lose to Berry for the fourth time this season and drop to 51-9 for the year.
Berry trailed 3-2 before Eric Weiss put the Vikings ahead for good with a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning. The Southern States Athletic Conference's Freshman of the Year, Weiss reached base three times. He was 2-for-4 in the game with a walk, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Weiss was one of seven Berry batters with multiple hits in the game.
"We came into the game wanting to take a specific approach at the plate," said Berry coach David Beasley. "We got those good approaches today and I think it showed with us getting 16 hits."
That was all that starter Chris Rearick (9-2) needed. The junior from Pooler, Ga. struck out seven batters over as he scattered seven hits for five runs over six innings of work. He picked up his ninth win of the season throwing just 84 pitches.
"Chris did a great job for us today," said Beasley. "He ran into a little bit of trouble later, but got out of it and we were able to turn the ball over to Matt McCalley. Once [McCalley] got in, he just did what he's done for us all year."
Matt McCalley (8) entered the game in the seventh inning and the junior picked up his eighth save of the year without allowing a run. He pitched three scoreless innings of relief to lower his team-leading ERA to 1.22 for the season. He has now thrown 33.2 consecutive innings without allowing a single run to score, a streak that dates back to May 4 and includes 11 appearances.
The Vikings scored in six of the nine innings in the game refusing to sit on the lead at any point. After SPSU had cut the BC lead to 5-4 with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Vikings responded with two more in the top of the sixth. Following a two-out walk to Jarrett Northcutt, the Vikings had back-to-back RBI doubles by Patrick Taylor and Andrew Starr to get a pair of valuable insurance runs.
Taylor and Starr were both 2-for-4 in the game with an RBI each. Blake Reynolds was the top hitter for the Vikings with a 3-for-5 effort that included a double in the ninth inning. Reynolds came in to score on an RBI triple by Mitch Terry in the next at-bat. Terry, Northcutt and Jacob Lamar all finished the game 2-for-5 at the dish.
With Berry leading 1-0 in the third inning Jono Waugh put SPSU in front with a three-run home run. Despite being out-hit 7-2 at that point, the Hornets claimed a 3-1 lead. Chaise Oliver added a solo home run in the sixth inning as two of the Hornets' seven hits in the game were home runs.
Waugh led the Hornets' batters with a 2-for-4 effort that included three RBIs and a run scored. Jake Barrow and Chris Hoffer were also 2-for-4 in the game.
Sean Teague (8-1) took the loss for Southern Poly. It was the first loss of the year for Teague who struck out three batters over 5.2 innings of work.
Berry took an early 1-0 lead on Tye McCleary's RBI ground out in the first inning. The play drove in Harman Watkins, but Berry was left wanting more, as the Vikings loaded the bases with no outs, but only managed to score a single run in the first. Berry had runners in scoring position in the first four innings. However, the team managed just two runs, while stranding six runners and hitting into a pair inning-ending double plays.
Berry will advance to the next round of the World Series where it could once again face another SSAC opponent. The Vikings will play on Monday at 6 p.m. (EST) against the winner of Saturday's matchup between Lee and Lubbock Christian.
The No. 9-seed Lee Flames won 5-2 over No. 8-seed Campbellsville on Friday morning to advance to the next round against the Chaps. The overall No. 1-seed in the tournament, Lubbock Christian received a bye into the second round of play on Saturday.
The No. 5-seed, Southern Poly, will play an elimination game against Campbellsville on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (EST).
Berry and SPSU are both members of the SSAC and this was the sixth meeting between the two teams. The Vikings were the regular season champions of the SSAC, while Southern Poly won the SSAC Tournament. The Vikings are now 4-2 against the Hornets this season.
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