LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The Covenant baseball team had their bats warm up like the early spring weather on Tuesday afternoon, but the Scots could not hold a late lead as visiting Berry rallied for an 11-10 victory.
Covenant (7-10) hit three home runs and produced 13 hits, however Berry (12-9) tallied a seven-run seventh inning to escape Lookout Mountain with the win.
Perry Rigby went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, while Will Carlton also had three hits in five at-bats. Will Cleland and Z Arima had two hits apiece and Cleland drove in three runs.
After three scoreless innings to start the game, Covenant scored five times in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. All five runs were unearned and came after two were out. Cleland had a two-run single that scored Luke Harvey and Rigby and Arima followed with an RBI single of his own to cap the outburst.
Berry scored two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to cut into the lead, but the Scots responded with a pair of runs of their own in each inning to maintain a five-run lead. Rigby homered to left field in the fifth, his first of the year. In the sixth, KC Simons and Scott Gillespie went back-to-back with solo homers. The solo shot for Simons, a deep drive to left field, was the first of his career while Gillespie's homer was his second this season.
In the seventh, Berry rallied to take the lead with seven runs on six hits while sending 10 men to the plate. Pinch-hitter Kevin Scott tied the game with a bases-loaded double that scored all three runners. A Covenant error followed by an RBI single from Alfred Francis plated two more runs for the Vikings to give them an 11-9 lead.
Covenant would get one back in the seventh on Cleland's RBI groundout. In the ninth, the Scots put a runner on third after Cleland singled with one out and advanced to third on a steal followed by a wild pitch. Berry reliever Tyler Will secured the win for the visitors by inducing a groundout.
Berry used six pitchers and it was reliever TJ Montgomery (2-2) who got credit for the win as he tossed two innings and allowed one run on two hits. Will picks up his first save of the year after throwing the final two innings. Starter Austin Loper lasted 3.2 innings and allowed three runs, none earned, on two hits.
Covenant starting pitcher Spencer Smith was effective as he went 4.2 innings. Smith worked around eight hits as he gave up just two unearned runs. Alec Mitchell (1-3) gets the loss.
Covenant will stay home this weekend when it hosts conference foe Maryville for a three-game series. The first game will be Friday at 3 p.m. followed by a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
Be sure to follow the Scots all season long on athletics.covenant.edu and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news and other information.
