FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Covenant softball team dropped two games at USA South foe Methodist on Friday afternoon in Fayetteville, N.C. The host Monarchs defeated the Lady Scots 8-4 in game one and 5-2 in the second game for the doubleheader sweep.
Covenant drops to 8-16 overall and 3-11 in league play. Methodist improves to 7-16 on the season and 4-8 inside the USA South.
Lauren Johns led the Covenant offense on the day by going 5-for-7 with two RBIs in the two games.
In the first game, Methodist grabbed a 2-0 lead after the first inning but Covenant responded in the fifth with three runs to take a 3-2 edge. In that fifth inning, Kendall Whann and Chandler Shepherd had consecutive singles with one out and later scored on a Jordan Brett double to left field. Johns then drove in Brett with a two-out RBI single to make it 3-2.
Methodist would tie the score at 3-3 in its half of the fifth and then take the lead for good with five runs in the sixth inning. Covenant tallied one run in the seventh by way of a Johns single that scored Shepherd, but the Lady Scots could not complete the comeback.
Covenant starting pitcher Cori Hilt (5-8) allowed three earned runs in on six hits in her six innings of work. Methodist's Jordan Pietrolaj (1-0) gets the win in relief as she went 1.2 innings and surrendered one run on two hits.
Johns was 3-for-3 for the Lady Scots while Shepherd was 2-for-4. Johns and Brett each drove in two runs and Shepherd scored twice.
In the day's second game, Johns went 2-for-4 but the Lady Scots could not provide enough offense as Methodist completed the USA South doubleheader sweep with a 5-2 victory.
Along with Johns' two hits, Morgan Lane, Whann, Meagan Hess and Anna Verwey had one hit apiece. Lane had the lone RBI for Covenant.
Methodist scored twice in the first inning once again to take a 2-0 lead. The Lady Scots got a run back in the third inning as Whann scored after Lane reached base on a Methodist error. After Methodist scored three times in the fourth inning, Covenant answered with one in the fifth on a Lane RBI single that plated Hess.
Hannah Rogers (3-8) went distance allowing five runs on nine hits for Covenant. Methodist's Brittany Miller (3-7) picks up the pitching decision after going four innings and giving up one run on two hits.
Covenant will play its third conference doubleheader in as many days on Saturday when they face North Carolina Wesleyan in Rocky Mount, N.C. First pitch of game is slated for 1 p.m.
