ATLANTA, Ga. -- A three-run ninth inning rally propelled the Covenant baseball team to a 4-2 victory over Emory on Friday afternoon in Atlanta in game one of a three-game series.

Games two and three of the series will be played on Lookout Mountain on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.

Covenant trailed 2-1 heading into the top of the ninth inning. K.C. Simons led off the inning with a single to left field that was followed by a Will Cleland double to put runners on second and third. After an Emory pitching change, David Lockwood reached on an error to load the bases. Scott Gillespie then singled up the middle to score Simons with the tying run.

Sterling Witt followed with a sacrifice fly that plated Cleland and Perry Rigby capped the inning with an RBI single to give the Scots a 4-2 edge.

That lead would be enough for Covenant reliever Alec Mitchell. Mitchell (4-1) worked two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts to pick up the win.

In a game completely opposite of the Scots' 13-12 win on Monday night, both pitching staffs shut down the opposition. Covenant starter Micah Mabe was locked in a duel with Emory starter Connor Dillman through seven innings.

Mabe allowed just two earned runs on four hits with one strikeout and one walk in seven innings of work before being relieved. The left-hander threw 95 pitches as he lowered his earned run average to 2.70 with his outing.

On the other side, Dillman was equally as impressive. Dillman (2-3) surrendered one run throught eight innings before running into trouble in the ninth inning. He allowed two earned runs on six hits, while punching out six in eight innings, but ultimately received the loss.

Gillespie went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Simons and Cleland also had a pair of hits for Covenant (17-4). Lockwood saw his 16-game hitting streak come to an end as he went 0-for-4 with a run scored.

Ryan Toscano and Mark Lindemann each had an RBI for Emory (12-10), which was limited to just five hits.