RALEIGH, NC- The Vikings tackle day two of the Triangle Classic, splitting on the day as they took game one against the Lions of The College of New Jersey (8-5) and fell in game two to the Virginia Wesleyan Marlins (3-7).
Game One (TCNJ):
Berry took the opportunity to score first at the top of the second inning, stringing together hits. A hard hit through the right side by Bradynn Belcher scored Elly Bennett, who previously reached via walk. With Erica Bennett in scoring position, Ava Fouts roped an RBI single to center field. Paige Bennett followed this with another shot up the middle, scoring Belcher to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.
Starting in the circle for Berry, senior Hannah Gore surpassed 400 career strikeouts and took her 5th win of the season with her impressive performance.
The Vikings continued to seek insurance runs, and went into the top of the 3rd inning with the mission to pass the bat. Lauren Cothern lead off for the inning with a single to the left side, followed by singles for Elly Bennett and Erica Bennett. Latifa Madesko stepped up to the plate with bases loaded, scoring Cothern on a single to the right side (4-0). An RBI single by Katelyn Boman brought Elly Bennett home (5-0). A 2 RBI double to right field by Ava Fouts was followed by a Paige Bennett RBI single to extend the lead to 8-0.
Going into the bottom of the 5th inning, the Lions strung hits together to scrape for their first run.
Berry's offense fell flat after their big inning and the Vikings did not push any more runs in the remainder of the game.
Megan Rapillo entered the circle in the 6th inning for the Vikings.
The Lions remained scrappy and closed the gap with a 3 RBI home run by S.Vincent bringing the score to 8-4.
TCNJ pushed one final run for the Lions in the bottom of the second, but their rally came with no avail as the Vikings took the victory for game one.
Game Two (Virginia Wesleyan):
The Vikings took a tough loss to Virginia Wesleyan in game two of the day.
Casey Holloway shut down the Marlin offense for the first two innings of the game, with 4 strike outs in the first 9 at bats. The Marlins made adjustments in the top of the 3rd, pushing 3 earned runs and capitalizing on a defensive error for a 0-4 lead.
The Vikings responded to the deficit, pushing one run in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a ground ball by Lauren Cother, scoring Ava Fouts (1-4).
Berry brought Ava Fouts in from left field to the circle in the 4th inning, who stalled the Marlin offense for two innings.
The Vikings remained determined to battle back, scraping two runs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Erica Bennett led off with a single and was joined on the bases by Casey Holloway, who reached on error. Rachel Runsick subbed into the game to run for Holloway. Bennett was brought in through an RBI single for Ava Fouts (2-4). Paige Bennett added one more to the board, scoring Runsick with a hard hit single. The Vikings brought the game to a close 3-4 going into the 6th inning.
The Marlins responded, pushing two earned runs and taking advantage of errors to bring the score to 3-7.
Hannah Gore entered in the 6th inning to close out the game, preventing any further runs from scoring
The Vikings were unable to rally back, bringing the final score to 3-7.
Berry will be back in action Sunday at 9:30 AM against Shenandoah University and Christopher Newport University at 12:00 PM to close out the Triangle Classic.
