ZEBULON, N.C. -- Alex Kerr and David Lockwood had three RBIs apiece and the Covenant baseball team evened up its USA South series with Methodist after Friday afternoon's 12-6 win at Five County Stadium in Zebulon.

The two teams will wrap up their series on Saturday at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, N.C., with a start time of 3:30 p.m.

The win keeps Covenant (21-9, 15-5 USA South) firmly in first place in the conference as the Scots hold a two-game lead in the loss column over Ferrum. Methodist drops to 18-12 overall and 12-8 in league play.

Kerr went 1-for-3 with a home run, the first of his collegiate career, while Lockwood was 2-for-4 on the day. With three more RBIs, Lockwood leads the USA South in that category with 36 on the season. Chris Rollins contributed two RBIs and went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. 

The offense came in support of starting pitcher Garrett Kriston. Kriston (6-1) notched his sixth win of the year after going seven innings and allowing three earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts.

Covenant got on the board early with three runs in the top of the first. Lockwood had an RBI single and Kerr added a sacrifice fly while the Scots took advantage of a Methodist error that enabled Scott Gillespie to score. 

Methodist got a run back in its half of the first and the teams would trade single runs in the third inning. Kerr led off the fourth with a solo homer to left field and two batters later Will Carlton laced a double that plated Paul Phillips that put the Scots up 6-2.

Covenant put the gameout of reach with four more runs in the fifth to grab a 10-2 lead. Lockwood picked up his third RBI of the game with a single that was followed by a two-run single by Rollins. Rollins later scored on a wild pitch. 

Methodist starter Michael Inman (1-3) gets the loss after giving up five earned runs on eight hits in four innings of work. Chris Power led the Monarchs attack by going 3-for-5 with a towering home run off the large left field scoreboard in the seventh inning.