The Centre baseball team snapped a four-game losing streak and picked up its first Southern Athletic Association win of the season in a doubleheader split with Berry on Friday in Rome, Ga.

The Colonels rolled to a 9-2 win in the first game, then fell 3-2 on a walk-off single in game two. 

In the first game, the Colonels did most of their damage in a three-run second inning and a five-run eighth while getting 7.1 innings of scoreless, three hit baseball from pitcher Rob Caudill (Danville, Ky.), who also struck out six in earning his first win of the year. Centre also got big games at the plate from Andrew Olson (Louisville, Ky.), who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Greyson Evans (Kernersville, N.C.), who went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI in game one before hitting his second home run of the season in game two.  

The Colonels got things going in the second inning, picking up three runs when Trey Litsey (Louisville, Ky.) reached on an error, followed by singles by Evans, Olson, and Grant Herald (Lexington, Ky.). Those runs were more than enough for Caudill, who allowed just two infield singles over seven innings before giving way to Alex Edwards (Goshen, Ohio) after a base hit in the eighth.

After stranding runners at third base in the sixth and seventh innings, Centre broke through with five runs on four hits in the eighth. Centre scored runs on a Trevor Brewer (Bowling Green, Ky.) single, a Litsey fielder's choice, and an Evans double before Olson brought home two runs on a single up the middle. The Colonels added another run on an RBI single by Litsey in the top of the ninth, and though Berry was able to push two runs across the plate in its last at bat, Edwards was able to close the door for a 9-2 final. 

Centre carried that momentum into the second game, putting up runs in each of the first two innings. Charlie Grigsby (Lexington, Ky.) led the game off with a single and came home on an RBI ground out by Brewer, followed by Evans hitting a home run to center field to lead off the second inning.

Unfortunately for the Colonels, those two early runs would be the last ones they would produce on the day. Berry starter Ryan O'Connell settled in and allowed just two more singles over the final five innings on the way to earning the victory. The score remained 2-2 most of the way after the Vikings plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning on an Alex McGill RBI single and a Kris Patel sacrifice fly.

Berry put the winning run on the board when Ryan Smith led off the seventh with a single, advanced on an error, and scored on a single to left by Grant Perkins. Brewer was saddled with the game two loss, despite 6.1 strong innings of work on the mound.

With Friday's results, Centre moves to 3-20 on the season and 1-13 in SAA play, while Berry comes away at 17-13-1 overall and 6-5-1 in the conference. The teams will wrap up the series when they meet again at 1 p.m. on Saturday.