BEREA, Ky. – The Berea College baseball team scored a season-high 16 runs and recorded a season-high 15 hits in a 16-13 win over the Maranatha Baptist University Sabercats on Thursday night.

The win puts the Mountaineers at 4-17 on the season.

The Sabercats took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. However, the Mountaineers trimmed into the deficit as sophomore Fredison Rivera crossed home plate on a sacrifice flyout to center field from sophomore Kenneth Henderson and Berea trailed 3-1 at the end of the first inning.

Maranatha Baptist matched their first-inning scoring output, putting up three additional runs in the top of the second inning while holding Berea to zero runs in the bottom of the second to take a 6-1 cushion.
 
The Mountaineers cut the deficit to two runs in the bottom of the third inning as sophomore Lawrence Griffey started the inning with a single and followed his hit by stealing second base. Rivera followed up with a walk and two Mountaineers was on base with zero outs. Freshman Giovanny Ortiz stepped to the plate with an RBI single, scoring Griffey and putting Rivera on third base. On the following play, Rivera scored on a balk and Berea trailed 6-3.

After stealing third base, Ortiz reached home plate on an error by the Sabercats' first basemen to pull within two runs after three innings. Maranatha Baptist responded with another run in the fourth inning, however, the Mountaineers scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth as Ortiz recorded his second RBI single and Rivera scored on a wild pitch as Berea trailed 7-6 after four frames.

In the top of the fifth, the Sabercats once again added a run to their total. The momentum shifted in the Mountaineers' favor in the fifth, scoring eight runs to take the lead that they'd not give up. Sophomore Darius Davis got the inning started with a single and eventually stole second and third base. Sophomore Jordan McVey brought home Davis with a sacrifice flyout to center field for the first run of the inning.  

Following the sacrifice flyout, sophomore Alejandro Avila knocked a double to keep the inning alive. Griffey followed by earning his way on base via a hit by pitch as Berea had two runners on first and second. Both runners moved up a base on a double steal and the Mountaineers were set to add more runs. Rivera knocked an RBI single to score Avila and Ortiz hit a two-RBI triple and Berea took a 10-8 lead.

The Mountaineers added three additional runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as Davis earned an RBI on getting hit by a pitch, sophomore Talon Yates hit an RBI single, and McVey hit a two-RBI single and Berea led 14-8 exiting the fifth inning.
Maranatha Baptist trimmed the deficit to five runs in the top of the seventh with an RBI single, but Berea doubled it in the bottom of the eighth on a two-RBI single from Davis as Berea led 16-9.

The Sabercats threaten to draw even in the top of the ninth, scoring four runs to bring the contest to a three-run outing. However, there weren't enough outs to work with for the opposition as the Mountaineers held on for a 16-13 win.

The Mountaineers return to the diamond on Saturday, traveling to face conference opponent Huntingdon College in their second series in conference play. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. in Montgomery, Ala.