AVE MARIA, Fla. -- The Covenant Scots baseball team split its first two games on its spring break trip to Florida on Friday with a 5-3 win over Ave Maria followed by a 13-12 loss to Spring Arbor. The split for the Scots means their record stays at .500 at 5-5.
The Scots will play both schools again on Saturday, with game one against Spring Arbor starting at noon and then Ave Maria at 3 p.m.
Sophomore Chris Rollins connected on two home runs in game two and had five hits on the day for Covenant. James Rollins went 4-four-8 from the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored. Scott Gillespie added three hits and three runs.
Game One
In an early morning game, the Scots faced off against Ave Maria and came away with a 5-3 win over the host Gyrenes in the seven inning game.
Ave Maria struck first in the bottom of the first when Gabe Loweree reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Patrick Collins-Bride to score the game's first run.
The Scots responded with two runs of their own in the top of the third. After a double steal by Kurt Wiles and David Lockwood put runners on second and third with two outs, James Rollins reached on an error that allowed both Wiles and Lockwood to score.
The Gyrenes took the lead back in the third inning as they took advantage of a Tyler Smith wild pitch to put a run across. Again Covenant had the answer as Chris Rollins tripled to center field to score Gillespie in the top of the fourth inning.
With the score still tied at 3-3 heading into the seventh inning, Covenant produced two runs. Lockwood's sacrifice fly plated Paul Phillips and that was followed by a James Rollins two-out triple to right-center field that scored Wiles to make it 5-3.
Tyler Smith (2-1) made that lead stand up as he earned the win going all seven innings. Smith allowed three earned runs on six hits while striking out seven and walking none. Joe Bocchino (1-3) was given the loss for the Gyrenes after he went seven innings giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits.
The Rollins brothers, James and Chris, each went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Wiles scored twice.
Game Two
Later in the day on Friday, Covenant faced the Spring Arbor Cougars. Although Covenant scored four times in the first inning and five times in the fifth inning, the Scots fell to the Cougars 13-12.
In that four run first for Covenant, James Rollins knocked home Lockwood with a single to put the Scots up 1-0. Two batters later, Gillespie drove home Rollins with a single that was followed by a Chris Rollins two-out, two-run home run to left field that made it 4-0. For Chris Rollins, it was his first homer of the season.
But in the top of the second, the Cougars responded with five runs of their own. Shane Street's double to left field plated two runs. A Zachary Redlker RBI ground out cut the Scots' lead to 4-3. Derek Brown then had the biggest hit for the Cougars in the inning as he lifted a deep fly ball to right field for a two-run home run to give Spring Arbor a 5-4 lead.
The Cougars scored another three runs in the top of the third. Brown again was the thorn in Covenant's side as his bases-loaded, two-out triple to right field cleared the bases and gave the Cougars an 8-4 advantage.
Covenant responded with single runs in its half of the third and fourth innings. Sterling Witt connected on his second homer of the season, a solo shot to right-center field, in the third inning. In the fourth inning, it was Wiles who drove home Will Cleland with a double to make it 8-6.
After a pair of runs scored in Spring Arbor's fifth inning, Covenant regained the lead with a five run bottom of the fifth. The first two Covenant batters reached and that spelled the end of the day for Spring Arbor starter Alex Zeiher. Gillespie greeted the new Cougars relief pitcher with a run-scoring single that plated James Rollins. Chris Rollins followed with a double that scored Witt from from second base. Drew Wixon then drew a bases-loaded walk before K.C. Simons singled home Jonathan Carter and Chris Rollins to give Covenant an 11-10 lead.
The Cougars scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead for good. Justin Forster homerd, while Garrett Gordon and Maverick Nichols each had RBIs in the inning to make it 13-11. Chris Rollins added his second home run of the day in the bottom of the sixth, but the Scots could not muster any more offense.
The win for Spring Arbor is credited to Zach Wedesky, while the loss goes to Demarius Johnson (1-2). Chris Rollins went 3-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored. Gillespie also went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. James Rollins and Witt each scored two runs with an RBI for each player.
