The Berry College Vikings defeated the Lynchburg College Hornets 9-1 in five innings in the opening round of the Atlanta, Georgia regional of the Division III NCAA Championships on Friday.

Berry’s starting pitcher Kassie Howard raised her season record to 23-1 after striking out five, while not allowing any hits in 4.0 innings to lead the Vikings, who held Lynchburg to just one run on two hits in a dominant opening-round performance.

Berry jumped on Lynchburg in the bottom of the first, scoring five runs on five hits, highlighted by Brooke Whittemore’s three-run shot to right center. Whittemore finished the day 2-for-3 with four RBI.

The Vikings tacked on another run in the second on a double by Elisabeth Federici, and two more runs in the third on a two-run double by Kylie Aiken. Whittemore drove in her fourth RBI of the game in the fourth, scoring Federici on a base hit. Federici went 2-for-2 with a single, double and two RBI, and Aiken went 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Lynchburg finally cracked the scoring column in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Skylar Dickens with two outs in the inning, but a ground ball out by Mackenzie Chitwood ended the threat with runners in scoring position.

Berry will face the Maryville College on Saturday at 11 a.m. Maryville topped Emory, 1-0, in the other first-round game.