Wilmore, KY- The baseball team returned to the field after some weather issues caused a couple of delays for the team. The game was initially scheduled to be a home game, but the weather caused a change of venue and date, forcing Berea to travel to Wilmore, KY to take on the Asbury University Eagles in a single game. The team entered the game on a four-game winning streak.
Pitching dominated the opening of the game, as the teams combined for two hits through two innings, with the Mountaineers' hit coming from Andrew Akins. Trailing 1-0 after an Asbury run in the third, Berea began the fourth intent on making the game a tie or taking the lead. Nathaniel Summey led off the inning with a single and was moved to second base off Ryan Blevens' sacrifice bunt. Summey got to third base off Ron Overstreet's fly out. Summey was stranded on third though as the next batter struck out. In the bottom half of the fourth inning, the Eagles added three runs to the board to make their lead 4-0. Asbury's lead ballooned out to 8-0 as they scored four more runs in the sixth inning as the Mountaineers continued to struggle to convert hits into runs. Following the first out of the seventh inning, Akins recorded his second hit of the game with a single. The second out of the inning occurred before Nicholas Bottom singled and a wild throw to get Bottom out at first allowed both him and Akins to move to second and third, respectively. Both runners were left on base though as the next batter for Berea recorded the final out. Two runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning gave the Eagles a 10-0 victory, ending the Mountaineers four-game winning streak.
Akins finished a perfect 2-2 from the plate to go along with Bottom's 2-3 from the plate, as the two of them led the way in the batter's box for Berea. Along with hits from Summey and Josh Wilson, the Mountaineers finished the game with six hits. Wilson started the game on the bump for the team and was credited with the loss.
Berea (9-13) will begin a three-game series with future USA South Athletic Conference opponent Maryville College (TN). The series will take place at the home field of Maryville as the two teams will play a twinbill on Saturday, followed by a single game on Sunday. The first game of the scheduled doubleheader on Saturday is slated to begin at 3:00 PM with the second game to follow shortly after.