MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- The Covenant baseball team was swept in a three-game series at Maryville over the weekend. In game one on Friday night, Maryville took a 15-1 victory before winning twice on Saturday by scores of 4-1 and 5-1.
The losses drop Covenant to 8-8 overall and 2-4 in the USA South. Maryville goes to 14-3 on the year with a 5-1 conference record.
After being defeated on Friday night, the Scots took an early lead in Saturday's first game. In the second inning, Alex Kerr led off with a double and later scored on an RBI single from Trenton Nobles to give Covenant a 1-0 lead.
That lead held until the bottom of the sixth when Maryville's Zack Blonder stole home to tie the score at 1-1. With the score still tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Maryville got two runners on and Chris Ervin launched his second home run of the series, a three-run shot, that gave Maryville a 4-1 lead.
Covenant's Luke Harvey led off the ninth with a walk but he was erased on a ground ball double play that ended the Scots' threat.
Covenant starter Matt Reitz (0-2) was effective in his start going eight innings and allowing four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Reitz's counterpart, Jeremy Ibarra (3-2), went the distance scattering six hits with one run and two strikeouts.
Kerr went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Nobles, Joel Johnson and Forrest Hunter each had a hit apiece. Nobles also had two hits in Friday night's loss.
In the series finale, Maryville scored a run in the seventh and hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to complete the three-game sweep with a 5-1 win.
Covenant took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Caleb Bloye singled home Harvey. That lead stood until the seventh.
Maryville pulled off a double steal in the bottom of the seventh that plated the tying run. In the eighth, Maryville's Greg Vourloumis hit a two-out grand slam to break the 1-1 tie and give the hosts the victory.
Nobles had two hits in the finale to lead Covenant. Drew Bradley made the start and was effective in 3.2 innings of work. Alec Mitchell (2-1) picks up the loss.
UP NEXT
Covenant will host Hampden-Syndey on Monday at 2 p.m. on Lookout Mountain. It will be the first meeting all-time between the programs.
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