MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The No. 4 ranked Belhaven Baseball team opened play at the Berry Invitational in impressive fashion on Thursday afternoon, rallying from an early deficit to defeat Berry College 11-6.

The win moves the Blazers to 13-1 on the season, while Berry, which also received votes in the latest D3Baseball.com national poll, falls to 8-4.  

Belhaven collected 14 hits and used a pair of big middle-inning rallies to erase an early four-run deficit and seize control of the game.

Berry struck first in the bottom of the opening inning. After a leadoff double, Riley Uhls drove in the first run with a single before another RBI single and a run-scoring double pushed the Vikings in front 3-0.

The Vikings added another run in the second inning on an RBI single from Uhls to extend the lead to 4-0 as Belhaven starter Cole Burton worked through traffic early.

Berry tacked on another run in the fourth inning when Uhls delivered again with an RBI double to right field, giving the Vikings a 5-2 advantage.

Belhaven began its comeback in the fourth inning. JD Weed doubled to center field and Jake McCann worked a walk to put two runners on base. Austin Canale then delivered the key swing of the inning, lining a double down the right field line that scored both runners and trimmed the deficit to 4-2.  

Berry answered in the bottom half to make it 5-2, but the momentum quickly shifted in the fifth.

The Blazers broke the game open in the top of the fifth inning with a five-run rally.

Hayden Roberts and Parker Ryan opened the frame with back-to-back singles before Owen Abney reached on an error to load the bases. Weed followed with an RBI walk to bring home the first run of the inning.

Moments later, Trey Smith singled to right field to score Ryan and pull the Blazers within one. McCann then reached on a fielding error that allowed two more runs to cross the plate as Belhaven surged in front 6-5.

Canale capped the rally with an RBI groundout that brought home Smith, giving Belhaven its first lead of the game at 7-5.

Belhaven continued to build on the lead in the sixth inning.

Roberts and Ryan once again started the offense with consecutive singles before Abney ripped an RBI double to right field. Weed followed with a sacrifice fly and Smith added an RBI double to right-center as the Blazers stretched their advantage to 10-6.  

Berry briefly threatened in the fifth inning with an RBI single to trim the margin to one, but Belhaven's bullpen settled things from there.

Trey Flettrich entered in relief and earned the win after recording five outs while limiting Berry's offense and keeping the game within reach during the turning point of the game.  

Christian Corona followed with a scoreless sixth inning before Sage Rivere closed the door with three shutout innings, allowing just two hits while keeping the Vikings off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Belhaven added a final insurance run in the ninth inning when Canale delivered another RBI single to score Weed and extend the lead to 11-6.

Canale paced the Blazers offensively with three hits and four RBI, his fourth game this season with at least three hits.

Roberts recorded three hits for the second consecutive game while also scoring twice, while Ryan added two hits and two runs scored. Weed drove in two runs and scored three times, and Smith added two hits including a run-scoring double.

Belhaven continues play at the Berry Invitational later with two games tomorrow. The Blazers play SUNY Cortland at 11:00 AM CST and Marietta at 2:00 PM CST.

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