Olivia Donnally, Campus Carrier Asst. Sports Editor
The Lady Vikings women’s softball team has been on a five-game winning streak over the course of the past week that started on Sunday, March 24 in their game against Millsaps.
After losing the opening game to the Majors with a score of 9-8, the Lady Vikings came back and took the second game with a score of 6-0. In the first game, the Lady Vikings had been losing with a score of 7-1 but made a comeback when Millsaps gave up seven innings in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Majors managed to take the lead back at the top of the ninth by scoring their ninth run, but the Vikings took the series by winning the second game of the day and returning on Monday, March 25 to win the next two games against Millsaps.
The Lady Vikings won the first game of the double header with a close score 5-4. They led the game with a score of 2-0 through the first three innings. Millsaps scored two single runs by Emily Collins that tied up the score at the top of the fourth inning. The score remained tied until the bottom of the sixth inning when senior first baseman Kristen Stoll came to the plate.
After three balls and no strikes she managed to hit a run over the fence with a man on first, bringing in two more runs for the Lady Vikings.
Sophomore pitcher Natalie Boyd hit an additional run for the Lady Vikings in the fifth inning giving them five runs and a three-run lead.
The Majors were able to score two more runs with one in the top of the sixth and one at the top of the seventh making the score 5-4. They were unable to tie up the game, giving the Lady Vikings another win.
The two teams returned in a nightcap game which ended with a larger score difference with the Lady Vikings winning 9-1.
Starting pitcher Boyd kept Millsaps hitless for nearly five innings until Millsaps’ Casey Brown successfully hit and made it to first base. She was later batted into home giving Millsaps their only run of the evening.
Boyd continued to pitch for six innings until the Lady Vikings mercy-ruled Millsaps. Boyd only allowed two hits on her for the entirety of the six innings.
The Lady Vikings’ winning streak continued into their four-game series against Hendrix, which took place on Friday, March 29 along with setting Berry program records in number of runs (23) and hits (23) made in a single game when they won their first game against Hendrix with a score of 23-3.
Junior Sara Vigue managed five hits, which also tied for another Berry record.
Stoll and senior third baseman Lindsey Campbell both scored three runs. Boyd earned her first homerun of the season. Early in the season Campbell said that one of the team goals was to outhit their opponents and have an errorless defense, both of which were achieved in the game against Hendrix.
The Lady Vikings won the second game against Hendrix with a score of 9-5. The four game series got shortened, however, with the two games on Saturday being canceled due to rain.
Now the women’s softball team has a record of 19-7 and a SAA (Southern Athletic Association) record of 11-3.
The Lady Vikings are taking part in more than record -breaking. The team will be participating in raising money for “The Rome Challenger Sports League,” an organization that is designed to help kids and adults with special needs participate in sports regardless of their disabilities. The team will be raising money by selling their jerseys in an auction and all proceeds will go toward the foundation.
The auction will be taking place on Saturday, April 6 in the Lady Vikings’ double header against Centre College starting at 12 p.m. with a second game at 2 p.m.