Vikings Win 2015 SAA Softball Crown
BRANDON, Miss. - Berry College swept through the field to win the 2015 SAA Softball title. The Vikings got a first round bye before squeezing out two clutch wins and then cruising 7-0 in the Championship game against Hendrix.
The title run is the first straight sweep of opponents and was provided by the Vikings program. This time, Berry held off host Millsaps 3-1 in their first contest and then used a two-run double in the final frame to walk-off against Birmingham-Southern with a 3-2 win.
From there, the Vikings waited for the remaining squads to fight amongst themselves for a shot at the title. Hendrix won that honor by bravely staving off four straight elimination games before dropping the first title contest, 7-0.
Berry sports information championship recap provided below:
BRANDON, Miss. -- Berry College defeated Hendrix, 7-0, to capture the 2015 Southern Athletic Association Championship on Sunday.
Allie Coronado (9-3) tossed a complete-game shutout and allowed just 3 singles in the decisive game.
Berry plated all it would need (2 runs) in the first inning and led 6-0 after 2 frames. Hendrix ended its year with a 14-26 record.
Rachel Bartoe was the hitting star for BC. She was 2-for-2 with 2 double, 2 runs and 2 runs batted in. Brittany Ferrell hit 2-of-3 with a triple. Sarah Moore was 2-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Kylie Aiken had 2 singles and an RBI for the Vikes.
The drama of the day, however, was in the semifinal game. Kenzie Fleming recorded a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning to advance the Vikings over Birmingham-Southern into the championship match.
In the inning, Berry trailed 2-1. Marie Collop hit a one-out single. She was replaced by pinch runner Shakarah Boswell. Pinch hitter Brown then reached base on a single. Elisabeth Federici then popped out, which sent Fleming to the plate. She laced her double to right-center field to score Boswell and Brown to end the game.
Kassie Howard earned the complete game win. She moved to 18-1, allowed 6 hits, recorded 7 strikeouts and just 2 walks.
Brittany Tuttle went 2-3 with a double to lead Berry batters.
BSC--which got a 2 run homer from Micaela Beck--dropped to 32-8-1.
Berry, which has won the past 3 SAA regular season crowns, captured its first SAA softball tournament championship.
The Vikings, which have won 13 straight games, moved to 32-6 on the season. The SAA does not have an automatic qualifier for softball. The Vikings will learn later this week whether their resume merits an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.