ROME, Ga. – The Centre baseball team traveled south to begin a weekend series against an always tough Berry Vikings squad. After dropping the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 13-3, the Colonels won game 2 7-4 in nine innings to earn head coach Drew Briese his 100th career coaching victory.
Game 1: Berry 13, Centre 3 (8 innings)
- Trailing 1-0 in the second,
Josh Cunningham led off with a single and stole second. With two outs,
Perry Nadreau, who had a fantastic doubleheader at the dish, ripped a base hit down the right field line to score Cunningham and tie the game.
- Berry got the run back in the third, but Centre responded in the fourth. Nadreau led off with an infield hit, got sacrificed to second and eventually scored on a shot up the middle by
Karson Thompson.
- The Vikings tacked on three runs over the next two innings, but Centre battled back in the sixth as Nadreau singled for the third time in the game, advanced to second after a fielder's choice and crossed the plate for the second time following an RBI single by
Mark Pyburn.
- Berry put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out rally that produced four runs, and then tacked on four more over the next two innings to end it.
Game 2: Centre 7, Berry 4 (9 innings)
- In the second inning of game 2, the Colonels got on the board first. Pyburn got on with a bunt single and
Teddy Holloway delivered a base hit. A passed ball advanced both runners and Nadreau lined a single up the middle to give Centre a 2-0 lead.
- The Vikings got one back in the third, but remained largely neutralized by Centre starter
Carson Werrmann after exploding for 17 hits in game 1.
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Luc Morgan led off Centre's fifth inning with a base hit and later scored after
Jordan Gunter smashed a double into the gap in left center field. Gunter stole third and Thompson drove him home with a single to give the Colonels insurance runs they would eventually need.
- After giving up a run in the sixth, Werrmann, reaching over 120 pitches on the day, gave up a game-tying double in the seventh, one out away from a complete game victory. He rebounded to get the final out and extend the game.
- Neither team made a dent in the eighth inning, but in the ninth, Nadreau led off with a four-pitch walk. A sac bunt moved him to second and a base hit by
Conner Jackson put runners on the corners. Gunter drove in the go-ahead run with a drag bunt single, and then with runners on second and third,
Patrick Hope gave the Colonels a pair of insurance runs with a single up the middle.
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Will Orren recorded a pair of strikeouts in the ninth to finish off the victory for the Colonels.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORES
- Nadreau had his most productive day at the plate of his freshman season, going 3-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in game 1 to go along with two RBIs and the eventual winning run in game 2.
- Werrmann struck out seven batters in seven innings of work.
- With today's win, Briese reached the 100-win mark faster than any coach in Centre baseball history.
NEXT UP
The rubber match between Centre and Berry will take place on Sunday.
