Berea, KY- The Berea College Sport Complex saw action today as the baseball team returned home today for a doubleheader. The team, who was ranked 12th in the first coaches poll last week, dropped to a tie for 14th in the second week of the rankings. Berea took on the Alice Lloyd College Eagles in a doubleheader, a team they beat 7-6 and 9-3 earlier in the season.
After a scoreless first inning, Caleb Gupton opened the batting portion of the second inning for the Mountaineers with a double to center field. Gupton moved to third base on a passed ball before scoring the first run of the game on Andrew Akins' ground out to give Berea a 1-0 lead. Alice Lloyd came back and tied it in the fourth inning before taking a 3-1 advantage in the fifth inning. Joshua Works' earned a walk in the bottom of the fifth and used his speed on a Nathaniel Summey's single to get to third base. A Devin Belleville sacrifice fly scored Works to make the deficit 3-2. Ron Overstreet reached base in the sixth inning with a hit by pitch and a sacrifice bunt by Gupton pushed Overstreet into scoring position on second base. The second hit by pitch of the inning put the winning run on base in the form of Akins. Cambridge Dacci's single to center field scored Overstreet to tie the game at three runs each. Akins moved to third base on a fly out before a double down the left field line by Works gave the Mountaineers a 4-3 lead as Akins scored. The visitors scored a run in the top of the seventh to force Berea to come to the plate in the bottom half of the seventh. Belleville opened the inning with a single to center field to put the winning on first base. Two consecutive ground outs put Belleville on third base as the next batter came to the plate. Akins provided the heroics of the first game as his walk-off single scored Belleville to end the game and give the Mountaineers the 5-4 victory.
Akins was the hit leader for Berea, going 1-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Michael Smither started on the mound for the Mountaineers while Tyler Pope gets the credit for the win.
The visiting Eagles scored the first run of the second game to take a 1-0 advantage. The game between tied in the second inning as William Hislope, who reached base on his single to center field, quickly made his way around the bases and scored on Works' hit. Overstreet opened the third inning with a single to third base before a sacrifice bunt from Akins put Overstreet on second base. Overstreet scored from second base as Nicholas Bottom's single through the left side was enough to get him home to give Berea a 2-1 lead. Two insurance runs were added to the scoreboard for the Mountaineers when Bottom's home run over the left field fence scored him and Dacci to make the score 4-1. Berea's defense did their part for the remainder of the game as the Mountaineers took the second game by a score of 4-1, winning both games in the doubleheader.
Bottom led the way at the plate, going 3-3 with one home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Works went the distance for the team on the buimp, giving up five hits, one earned run while striking out eight batters.
#14 Berea (12-20) returns to the field on Tuesday as they host Asbury University in a single game. The nine inning game is slated to be played at the Berea College Sports Complex at 5:00 PM.