The Oglethorpe baseball team earned a doubleheader split with the homestanding Berry Vikings Saturday in the first of a three-game, non-conference series between the two SAA foes. After falling 12-2 in eight innings in Game 1, the Petrels earned a hard-fought 8-7 victory in Game 2 to move to 2-5 on the young season.

The Petrels got off to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning of Game 2. They scored a run on an error by the Berry shortstop on a successful steal attempt by junior center fielder Will Arnold, then tallied another when senior right fielder Chris Keane drove Arnold home with a groundout.

Berry tied the score in the bottom of the inning, but the Petrels enjoyed a big inning in the third. Senior left fielder Alec Babb singled home Arnold to give the Petrels the lead back, then freshman designated hitter Josh Carrico gave his team a 4-2 lead with a sacrifice fly and Babb scored on a balk. Berry again answered right back and scored two in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-4. A bunt single by senior shortstop Alex Featherstone extended the Oglethorpe lead to 6-4 in the fourth, but Berry scored two in the bottom of the inning to tie it up at 6-6.

The score stayed that way until the top of the seventh, when Arnold led off the inning with a ringing double to center field. Keane followed with a double of his own, scoring Arnold and giving Oglethorpe a 7-6 lead. In the ninth, Keane singled with one out and stole second. Sophomore right fielder Carson Weir then drove Keane home with a two-out double, making it 8-6.

That turned out to be an important run, as Berry scored a run off closer Keane. The Petrel reliever stranded the potential tying run at first, however, and earned his first save of the season as he allowed just a run on two hits over the final inning-and-a-third. Senior right-hander Kyle Blakeney picked up the win after allowing a hit batsman and nothing else over 2 2/3 innings in relief. 

It served as an outstanding comeback after a tough first game. The Petrels only managed five hits over the eight innings and fell behind 4-0 after three. Then they allowed six runs in the fifth to fall behind 10-0. Oglethorpe came back with a couple runs in the seventh to avoid the 10-run rule, at least for an inning. An RBI single by Featherstone and a bases-loaded walk by Babb provided the runs. 

The Petrels will finish their three-game set at Berry with a single game from Mount Berry, Georgia, set to take place at noon.