April 8, 2008

                DAYTON, Tn.—After the long trek home from Bluefield, VA on Monday, the Lions took the field again on Tuesday against the Berry College Vikings in a non-conference doubleheader. When the two teams met on March 11, they split the twinbill with each team winning one game. The Lions were looking for a sweep to aid their hopes of getting back to playing .500 baseball. 

                Jeremiah Peters (Sr., Sherwood, AR), perhaps the Lions’ hottest hitter, took the mound in game 1, and reminiscent of his outing at Berry earlier in the year, induced 3 first inning groundballs which were mishandled by the Lions, and allowed 3 runs to score. A hard single back up the middle capped the inning for the Vikings who had jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the fans had a chance to even settle into their seats. The first inning came to a close with the Vikings the beneficiaries of 4 Lion errors in the 1^st frame, and holding onto the early 4 run cushion.

                The Lions could manage only a single in the bottom of the 1^st inning and did not threaten to score until the 5^th inning. Peters stifled the Vikings’ offense until the top of the 4^th, when the visitors scored 2 more runs and forced him out of the game. Reliever Mark Barnwell (Jr., Crab Orchard, TN) came in to relieve Peters and was solid, retiring the ‘Vikes’ without surrendering another run in the inning.  In the top of the 5^th the Lions took advantage of two Berry errors and plated 2 runs, and in the 6^th Jeremy Potts (Sr., Danville, KY) and Michael Kent (Sr., Lookout Mtn, GA) drove in two more runs to draw the Lions within 3, 7-4. Berry put the game out of reach in the 7^th inning, taking advantage of two more Bryan errors and plating 3 more runs and pushing the lead to 10-4. The Lions went down quietly in the 7^th and the game ended with the Vikings on top 10-4.

                The story of game 1 was missed opportunities for the Lions who ended the game with 9 errors and 8 runners left on base.  When the game was 6-2 in the 5^th inning, the Vikings had earned just two of their runs, and the early deficit proved to be too much for the Lions to overcome.

                It was clear that the effort in game 1 could not carry over to game 2 or it would be a long afternoon for the Lions and their fans. Again the 1^st hitter of the game reached base on an error and it seemed that game 2 would go the way of game 1, but the Lions regroup and managed to work out of a jam allowing only a single run to score in the inning. Matt Hicks (Jr., Soddy-Daisy, TN), making his 4^th start of the year, held the Vikings in check until a 3-run homerun in the 3^rd inning by Berry 1^st baseman Andrew Starr extended the lead to 4-0.  Hicks bounced back to post zeroes in the 4^th and 5^th innings before a 2-run double in the 6^th inning forced him from the game as he gave way to Adam Polston (Fr., Palmyra, TN).

                Down 6-0, it was the Lions’ turn to capitalize on their opponents’ mistakes, using 3 walks, 2 hits and a Viking error to explode for a 6-run 6^th inning, tying the game and rescuing Hicks from the loss in the process. The Vikings were forced to use 4 pitchers in the inning to try and find an answer for the Lions whose patience and clutch hitting, including a big 2-out, 2-run single by Michael Kent to tie the game at 6, gave them a chance to win the ballgame.

                With a ‘new lease on life’ the Lions took the field in the 7^th hoping to hold the Vikings and then win the game in the bottom of the inning to complete the comeback, but it was not meant to be. Two Vikings reached base safely and a sacrifice fly advanced a runner to 3^rd, before a wild pitch from Polston caromed off the backstop and allowed the Viking runner to scamper home from 3^rd with the games winning run. Down 7-6, Bryan managed only a single by Jeremiah Peters off Berry stopped Matt McCalley, and could not manage to tie the game, falling 7-6 in a heartbreaking game 2.

                The sweep by Berry brings the Lions to 14-21 on the year, and makes the upcoming weekend series with the Cobras of Virginia Intermont College the most important set of games this season. Bryan Head Coach Joel Johnson was disappointed with the two losses: “It’s frustrating to beat yourself twice against a quality opponent like Berry. I’m taking nothing away from them, but we never really gave ourselves a chance tonight. 9 Errors in the 1^st game and then the Wild Pitch in game 2; we didn’t make them earn those wins and those type of losses will hurt us if we don’t start turning things around. It’s too late in the year to be breaking down mentally like we are. Hopefully the day off tomorrow will give us a chance to recover both mentally and physically and we can refocus on what is now a must-win series with Virginia Intermont this weekend. We really need a sweep if we want to to make any noise in the post-season. I do think our pitchers did a tremendous job for the most part tonight of keeping us in the ballgame. Game 1 ended up a little more lopsided than it was, and we didn’t do a very good job of supporting Jeremiah (Peters) on the hill tonight. ‘Hicksy’ has been tremendous for us this year when he’s thrown. We needed some guys to step up and eat innings and he has done more than that every time he takes the mound. I was proud of the way we battled back in game 2, but then to lose like that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. We have Berry here again next week and we owe them a couple losses.”

                The Lions will take the field Saturday in an important AAC twinbill with the VIC Cobras with 1^st pitch set for 1 PM.