With Vicksburg securing the final playoff spot from Division 3-5A, the Warren Central baseball team is left to play out the string.

And it looks to be a pretty tough string. Fourth-ranked Brandon came to Viking Field Saturday and left with an 11-3 win.

Over the last two weeks, the Vikings (5-17) must face the playoff-bound Vicksburg Gators on Tuesday, a rematch with the Bulldogs at Brandon on Thursday and a home-away series with 14th-ranked Clinton.

&#8220We want to get our games in and keep working to improve our underclasmen,” WC coach Randy Broome said. &#8220Our seniors keep playing hard and it’s just a matter of riding the storm out and looking toward next year.”

To that end, Broome is beginning to experiment with the Viking lineup. Against Brandon, he started sophomore Adam Lee at shortstop and had Heath Carroll at second in a bid to solve the Vikings’ defensive woes.

&#8220We’re just trying to find something,” Broome said of the switch.

The Vikings had four more errors against Brandon with three getting charged to the infield, but they did keep Brandon from having a big inning.

The Bulldogs (18-4) had to grind away their runs two and three at a time. A two-run double by Wil Mann keyed a three-run third to put Brandon up 5-1.

The Vikings got a run back in the bottom of the third when Harry Ferguson delivered a fourth straight hit to score Lee and make it 5-2.

A hit batter, an error and a triple by Shea Snowden in the fourth inning allowed Brandon to extend the lead to 8-2. They added three more in the sixth to lock up the win.

First year coach Neill Bartling, a three-time state champion at Simpson Academy in the Mississippi Private School Association, has the Bulldogs eyeing the Class 5A playoffs.

&#8220We’ve got a chance to clinch the division Tuesday night against Hattiesburg,” Bartling said of the Bulldogs’ match-up with the defending Class 5A champs. &#8220We were looking for some momentum after we lost last night to Clinton (4-3).”

Brandon pitcher Robert Jones (4-0) went six innings. The Vikings managed nine hits but could never get more than one run at a time. Sean Elliott and Carroll each had two hits for WC. Ferguson drove in two runs and Jonathan Longmire drove in the other off a sixth-inning double.

Brandon was led by Snowden who scored three runs to go with a double and a triple. Michael Conner had three hits and drove in one.