ROME, Ga. – In a win or go home situation, the Rhodes baseball team downed Berry College 12-2 to advance to the Southern Athletic Association Championships to face Oglethorpe University.
The Lynx improve their record to 31-13 while the Vikings likely end their season with a record of 29-15.
The Rhodes offense went right to work, posting a pair of runs in the first inning. A
Ryan Olive single scored
Bill Munson, followed by Olive working his way home on a wild pitch. Berry strove to keep pace, but only posted one run in the bottom of the inning.
The Lynx posted another run when
Strother White scored in the second inning after a wild pitch and throwing error, before a four hour rain delay.
The rain couldn't dampen the Lynx' spirit as Rhodes picked up right where it left off before the weather delay, posting a three run fourth. Olive notched another single and picked up two RBIs, scoring
David Balaguer and
Marcus Moreland. Kilkennys batted in another run, sending Munson to push the Lynx ahead 6-1.
A big sixth inning gave the Lynx some cushion, adding six to their run total. Munson knocked in the first run, sending
Walker McWherter home, followed by another Olive single and two RBIs that plated Munson and Balaguer. On the next at bat Kilkenny doubled to right field, trading places with Olive. The final Rhodes run came when
Will Gietema singled up the middle, scoring Kilkenny and giving the Lynx a 12-1 edge.
Berry plated one more runner in the sixth, but its rally fell short and the Lynx took home a 12-2 win and kept their conference championship hunt alive.
Rhodes tallied 17 hits when they needed them most, spreading nine Vikings hits.
Adam Putnam served as the Lynx battery and starter, throwing for two innings and striking out one batter. Kilkenny replaced Putnam on the mound after the break, where he finished the remaining seven innings, striking out three batters and only walked one batter.
Rhodes will advance to face the No. 1 seeded Birmingham-Southern College in a best two-out-of-three challenge for the SAA Title.
