By Matthew D. Stokes
BerryVikings.com Staff Writer

ROME, Ga. – Berry began the day by snapping Covenant's eight-game winning streak, and then Covenant returned the favor by snapping Berry's own eight-game winning streak in a Tuesday softball doubleheader at South Ford Field. Berry hung on for a 6-5 victory in the first game while Covenant took the nightcap 10-7.

In the early going of the opener, it looked as if Berry (16-6) would cruise to an easy victory. Caillee Shamoun retired the first three batters she faced, and her offense scored three runs in the bottom of the first, staking her to a 3-0 lead.

Then Shamoun ran into trouble in the third. With two outs and a runner on base, Beth Harris drove the Berry pitcher's offering over the left field fence for a two-run home run, drawing Covenant within two runs of Berry.

Berry would push across two runs in its half of the fourth courtesy of a Jessica Washington RBI double and a Kristen Stoll RBI single. With her team leading by four runs, Shamoun began to show signs of fatigue in the sixth. After allowing three extra-base hits in four hitters, Shamoun surrendered an RBI single to Tatum Daniel, leading to Shamoun's exit from the game.

Shamoun (11-2) pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up eight hits and four earned runs. She struck out four and walked one.

With her team leading by two runs, Shamoun's replacement, Andrea Cole quickly retired the first two Covenant hitters in the seventh. Just as soon as she had retired those batters, the bases were loaded. After Lauren Johns laced an RBI single to right, Cole escaped the bases-loaded jam by striking out Morgan Booker to preserve the win for Shamoun and the Vikings.

Cole threw one and a third innings to earn the save. She allowed three hits, one earned run, and struck out two.

Harris (3-1) was tagged with the loss after tossing five and a third innings and allowing nine hits and six runs (three earned).

Stoll finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBIs for Berry. Harris, Wagoner, and Johns each had two hits for Covenant.

"We got ahead early and put some pressure on," said Berry head coach Cori Thiermann. "Our bats were alive. The girls did a good job of being disciplined at the plate."

In the second game, Covenant came back with a vengeance, especially in the early innings. Berry's game two starter, Cole (5-4), struggled to get into a rhythm, lasting just two innings. She gave up eight hit and six runs (five earned).

Shamoun returned to the pitching circle in third inning in relief of Cole and tossed five innings of three-hit ball the rest of the way. She allowed four unearned runs and struck out 10 batters.

Berry stayed on point offensively as it scored six runs in the third through sixth innings combined, but in the end could not muster enough runs to catch Covenant. The team struggled to overcome its defensive woes as it committed four errors.

"Offensively we did great," Thiermann said. "We had 13 hits against their number one pitcher. We took her deep in the count and we hit our pitch. What killed us in game two was our defense. We had too many errors that cost us a lot of runs."

When asked about the team's winning streak being snapped, Thiermann was indifferent.

"I'm not so concerned with the winning streak as much as I am with us being halfway through the season," Thiermann said. "Our girls are still battling at the plate. It's our defense that we need to sharpen up a little bit."

Stoll hit her fourth home run in seven games in the fifth, a two-run blast, and drove in four runs to cap off a productive doubleheader at the plate. Sara Vigue and Krista Woody joined Stoll with multi-hit games of their own.

Harris continued her torrid hitting in the nightcap, hitting her second home run in as many games, this time a three-run blast to left in the fifth. She recorded three hits, three runs scored, and five RBIs. Christine Core had three hits while Jenni Jobe stroked two.

Chelsea Krafft picked up the complete game victory for Covenant, scattering 13 hits and seven runs (six earned) over seven frames. She had five strikeouts.

Berry will be back at South Ford Field on Saturday for a doubleheader against Piedmont starting at noon.

- BerryVikings.com -