LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- For the second straight double-header, the Covenant Lady Scots were swept at the hands of Lady Panthers. On Saturday, Covenant lost two games to LaGrange College's Lady Panthers, and on Tuesday afternoon it was Birmingham Southern's turn. The Lady Panthers, who are transitioning from NCAA DI to DIII, dominated the Lady Scots and came away with wins of 9-5 and 14-5 at Covenant's home field.
In game one, the Lady Panthers (7-5) scratched across a run in the top of the 1st inning, but the Lady Scots came back and scored twice in the 2nd inning to take the lead. After the first two batters were retired to start that 2nd inning, Lindsey Potter singled and then Morgan Booker drove her in with a double. Booker came around to score herself on the play as Southern threw the ball over the head of the third baseman and into the dugout.
The Lady Panthers tied the game in the 3rd inning with a run and then took the lead again in the 5th inning when they scored twice. Southern took advantage of 2 Covenant errors early in the inning and then got RBI doubles from Emily Merritt and Chelsea Fernandez to take a 4-2 lead.
Covenant starter Chelsea Krafft was replaced to start the 6th inning by Beth Harris and Southern greeted her by adding three more runs to their lead. The Lady Panthers would then add two more runs in the 7th inning to put the game out of reach.
The Lady Scots did score three more runs in their half of the 7th, courtesy of Booker's first home run of the year that brought in Potter and Kim Cuticchia and made the final score of 9-5.
Covenant looked to bounce back in game two but before they could even get settled in, the Lady Panthers batted 15 players in the top of the 1st inning and scored 11 times on 12 base hits. One of the big blows in the inning came off the bat of Fernandez as she connected for a 3-run home run that made it 5-0 at that point.
Coming back from an 11-0 deficit is tough, but the Lady Scots managed to chip away a little in the bottom of the 1st as they scored 3 runs of their own. Courtney Wagoner and Potter each had run-scoring singles, and Cuticchia added an RBI sacrifice fly as Covenant made it 11-3.
Southern put three more runs on the scoreboard in the 3rd inning to make it 14-3. The Lady Scots would score two times in the bottom half of the 5th inning on Harris' 2-RBI single that scored Booker and Potter. But at that point the game was all but over, and the game ended after the 5th inning.
Despite the losses, outfielder Morgan Booker provided some offensive power as she went 5 for 6 and scored 3 runs in the two games combined. Booker also drove in 4 runs in game one alone. Beth Harris also had another outstanding game at the plate in game two as she went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs.
Covenant now sees its record fall to 4-4 on the season. The Lady Scots will not have long to wait to try and snap their losing streak as they will play a doubleheader on Thursday, March 17 against Emory University at Warner Park in Chattanooga. Emory is currently ranked #10 nationally in Division III polls and boasts an unblemished 22-0 record.
