LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Sterling Witt hit two home runs, one in each game, and drove in four runs as the Covenant baseball team finished its home schedule with a doubleheader split against Berry. Covenant took game one 6-1 before losing the second game 7-5.
Covenant moves to 23-11 on the season, while Berry goes to 16-20. The Scots took the season series with the Vikings two games to one.
Game One: Covenant 6, Berry 1
Starter Alhanon Miller allowed one run on just three hits in a seven innings complete-game effort as Covenant earned a 6-1 victory.
Miller (6-1) struck out five and walked two. The right-hander threw 83 pitches, with 59 of them for strikes. At one point, Miller retired 11 straight batters and did not allow a runner to advance past second base until the fifth inning.
David Lockwood and Witt each went 2-for-4 with a run and two runs batted in. Chris Rollins added a pair of hits to go along with an RBI.
After two scoreless innings, Covenant got on the board with three runs in the third inning. Reid Pope led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and Will Cleland followed with a single. Lockwood then doubled to the left-center field gap to bring home both runners. Lockwood was chased home on an RBI single to left by Rollins to make it 3-0.
The Scots would extend their lead to 6-0 with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Scott Gillespie reached on a dropped fly ball by the Berry center fielder and Witt then launched a two-run home run in the trees in right field for his second homer of the season. K.C. Simons added a sacrifice fly to right field to cap the inning.
Berry starter Carter Reese (0-2) is tagged with the loss as he allowed three runs on five hits in three innings.
Game Two: Berry 7, Covenant 5
Berry's Doug Heath blasted a three-run home run to right field in the third inning that would give the Vikings a lead they would not relinquish as Berry took a split with a 7-5 win.
Berry struck first with a run in the top of the first on an RBI single from Ben Jernigan. The Scots would respond quickly as Witt again hit a mammoth home run to right field, another two-run shot, to give Covenant a 2-1 lead after an inning.
The Vikings scored one in the second and then three more in the third to take a 5-1 lead. Covenant answered with one in its half of the third on a Lockwood RBI ground out, but Berry increased its lead to 7-3 by the end of the top of the fifth.
The Scots would try and mount a rally in the fifth inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Cleland hit a line drive single to right field that scored Andrew Beck. Lockwood again drove in a run with a ground out to make it 7-5, but the Berry bullpen would hold the Scots right there.
Alec Mitchell (5-3) picks up the loss for Covenant after he surrendered five runs on six hits in three innings. Relivers Dan Thomas and Spencer Smith combined to throw four innings and give up two runs on four hits.
Cleland went 2-for-4 to lead the Scots. Lockwood and Witt each had two RBIs. Stephen Gaylor was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Heath finished 2-for-3 with three runs batted in for Berry.
Jonathan Stump (1-0) notches the win for Berry. Ryan O'Connell threw a scoreless seventh inning to convert his first save of the season.
Covenant will open up a three-game series on the road with LaGrange on Friday afternoon. Game one is set for 6 p.m.
