MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – The Millsaps baseball team went on the road and swept Berry College to claim the program's first Southern Athletic Association regular season title since 2013.
Millsaps (27-11, 13-5 SAA) bested Berry (17-18, 6-9 SAA) by 15-5 and 15-2 scores on Friday. The Majors completed the sweep with a 6-4 triumph at William R. Bowdoin Field on Saturday.
The 2025 SAA Baseball Championship will now be hosted by the Majors at Twenty Field, May 8-10.
Game 1, W: Millsaps 15, Berry 5 (8 inn.)
The Majors combined for a season-high five home runs and were able to build enough distance on the scoreboard to put the run-rule into play in Game One on Friday. Millsaps bested the Berry, 15-5 in eight innings.
Senior Bradley Pelle (season-high six RBIs, two runs, double) and classmate Evan Scott (three runs, two RBIs) each batted 3-for-5 and homered twice against the Vikings. It is the first time since at least the 2012 season that a pair of Majors homered twice in a single game.
Graduate Branyan Bounds went 3-for-3 in batting, while recording two runs, an RBI, a double and a pair of walks.
Graduate Jackson Ware (homer, career-high four RBIs, two runs, double), senior Gray Berry (RBI, three runs, two doubles, walk) and graduate David Abbadessa (run) each recorded two hits.
Junior EJ Ousley (run) added a 16th hit for Millsaps in Game One.
Senior Nick Tarantino pitched seven innings where he struck out three batters. He allowed two earned runs, four walks and five hits. The Covington, La., native now holds a 9-1 record as the Majors' winning pitcher.
Freshman John Montour closed the eighth inning in scoreless fashion, registering two strikeouts while only allowing two hits and one walk on the mound.
In the top of the first inning, Gray Berry hit a leadoff double, providing the Majors with an early spark.
Moments later a groundout by graduate Case Page would score Gray Berry from third to give the Majors an early 1-0 lead.
After a great start by the Majors, Scott struck a solo home run outside the William R. Bowdoin Field fence past center field.
A throwing error by the Majors would allow the hosts to score, cutting the early deficit down to 2-1.
In the top of the second inning, Ware doubled to continue the Majors' momentum.
Bounds continued with a single down the left field line to score Ware and place the Majors ahead, 3-1.
Berry responded with a sacrifice fly to right field in the third to score a runner, cutting its deficit to 3-2.
Berry then made it 3-3 with a double and single up the middle to tie the contest.
Millsaps interrupted the Vikings answer with a Gray Berry leadoff double in the fifth. Minutes after his double, Pelle blasted a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole to help the Majors surpass the Vikings, 5-3.
After a great start by Gray Berry and Pelle to open the inning, Scott blasted his second solo home run of the contest to further the Majors ahead to 6-3.
In the top of the sixth, Bounds kicked the inning off with a double before an Abbadessa bunt single to the Vikings pitcher moved Bounds to third.
A Gray Berry sacrifice fly would soon bring Bounds home and continue the Majors' damage.
Looking to add more for the Majors, Pelle ignited a double to send Abbadessa home and push the Majors ahead of the Vikings, 8-3.
The Vikings scored two unearned runs to keep their hopes alive, down by three runs in the seventh.
However in the top of the eighth inning, Millsaps extended their lead to 15-5 courtesy of five hits, two walks and a pair of homers. Pelle cracked a three-run homer and Ware used a grand slam to help seal Game One for the Majors. It was Pelle's 12th long ball of the season.
Game 2, W: Millsaps 15, Berry 2 (7 inn.)
The Major bats remained hot in Game Two of a doubleheader, totaling 16 hits and two more homers on Friday. Millsaps bested the Vikings, 15-2.
Gray Berry went 3-for-5 with two runs.
Junior Mason Morgan (2-for-3) recorded a homer while tying a career-high four RBIs. The Walker, La., native also registered two runs and a pair of walks against the Vikings.
Bounds recorded his sixth homer of the season, which was a grand slam in the third inning.
Pelle (RBI, two runs, two doubles), Scott (three RBIs, run, two doubles), Ousley (three runs) and Ware (two RBIs, run, double) each accumulated two hits against their conference opponents.
Page finished the day with two runs, one hit and a walk.
Graduate Wil Wood pitched all seven innings allowing only one earned run. The Memphis, Tenn., native strucked out two batters while only allowing six hits and no walks.
After bettering the Vikings, 15-5 in Game One, Millsaps continued to attack their conference foe in their second matchup of the day with a balanced team effort.
In the top of the first inning, two singles by Gray Berry and Ousley alongside a pair of doubles by Pelle and Scott pushed the Majors into an early 2-0 lead.
Moments later, a three-run homer by Morgan to center field extended the Majors' margin to 5-0.
The Vikings recorded their first RBI of the game with a single in their half of the first inning.
After a stellar performance by the Majors in the top of the first inning, Millsaps continued to increase the difference on the scoreboard. A Ware single would score Page in the top of the third frame.
Moments later, a grand slam by Bounds would increase the Major lead to 10-1.
In the top of the fourth frame, Pelle and Scott each doubled to make it 11-1.
Abbadessa then moved the Majors further ahead by scoring from third off a Scott fielder's choice in the fifth.
In the same inning, Morgan walked to allow Gray Berry to come home to further the Major advantage to 13-1.
The Vikings responded with their final run scored in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Millsaps concluded with two final runs in the seventh. A double by Ware scored Page and a wild pitch tallied Ousley helped the Majors defeat Berry, 15-2 on Friday.
Game 3, W: Millsaps 6, Berry 4
Needing one more win to assure themselves the SAA regular season title without checking on other scores next weekend, the Majors took care of business with a 6-4 win on Saturday.
Junior Stewart Bonnecaze started and pitched 4.2 innings. He struck out four Vikings against five walks, five hits and only two earned runs.
Freshman Sam Thomas struck out two in 3.0 IP. He surrendered no walks, three hits and one earned run.
Classmate Fred Fields earned the win with a scoreless final 1.1 innings and only surrendered one hit.
Bounds tallied a three-run home run and was hit by a pitch.
Berry (stolen base), Scott (double, two walks), Ousley (run, walk) and Ware (RBI, run, three walks, sacrifice fly) each tallied a hit.
Morgan (2-for-3, RBI) doubled, scored twice and walked.
Pelle batted 2-for-5 and stole a base, while Abbadessa added an RBI.
Scott gave the Majors their first hit with a double in the second frame. He advanced to third and Ware walked to put runners on the corners. A fielder's choice ended the early opportunity.
Berry looked for the first run in the bottom of the second, but a caught stealing helped the Majors defensively. The Vikings managed a double and walk right after, but they failed to score with a strikeout swinging and fly out.
The hosts did manage to build a 2-0 lead in the third frame after opening with a single, walk, a failed pickoff attempt and a two-RBI single.
Millsaps was quick to answer in the top of the fourth when Morgan doubled and Ware walked. Bounds stepped in and homered to left field, giving the Majors a 3-2 edge.
Berry then tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth after loading the bases with a double, intentional walk and regular base on balls. The Vikings knotted the contest off a bases-loaded hit by pitch.
Millsaps again looked poised to recapture the lead in the sixth after loading the bases with one out courtesy of two singles, a bunt and hit by pitch. Berry escaped with a strikeout and a fly out.
The Vikings again held defensively by turning a double play in the seventh. Berry then made it 4-3 with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the same inning.
The Majors proved resilient by tying Game Three at 4-4 in the top of the eighth. Morgan and Ware walked before a fly out moved Morgan to third. Abbadessa bunted, resulting in a fielder's choice and an RBI.
Millsaps recaptured the lead for good in the ninth with two additional runs. Scott and Ousley started with walks. Freshman Wes Grant pinch ran for Scott after his walk and was singled home by Morgan.
After a Viking wild pitch, Ware produced a sacrifice fly to plate Ousley from third and make it 6-4.
Fields entered in the eighth and closed out the ninth to help the Majors clinch the SAA regular season crown. A 4-6-3 double play and ground out to Ousley completed the sweep.
Millsaps is next scheduled to travel and face Centenary College in Shreveport, La., beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Live video and live stats for the non-conference matchup will be available at gomajors.com.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps College baseball program this year follow the Majors on X and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook or visit gomajors.com.
Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.
