LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Matt Reitz and Kyle Phillips combined to allow just four hits and Devin Cerrato hit a two-run home run to lead the Covenant baseball team to a 7-2 win over Emory & Henry on Friday afternoon.
The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Scots (1-3) and gives them their first victory of the year. It was the season opener for Emory & Henry (0-1).
Reitz (1-1) made the start and went six innings allowing one hit and one unearned run to pick up the victory. The right-hander allowed the run in the first and then was able to work out of a couple jams in the middle inning before retiring eight of the final nine hitters he faced. Phillips notched his first career save after tossing the final three innings.
Emory & Henry took a 1-0 lead in the first as Hunter Jeffries worked a walk and then came around to score on a Covenant throwing error. In Covenant's half of the first, Luke Harvey walked and then stole second before being driven home on a Trenton Nobles double. Nobles later scored himself on a wild pitch to give the Scots a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth, Covenant extended the lead to 5-1. Julien Amorelli drove in Alex Kerr with an RBI ground out and two batters later Cerrato launched a two-run homer over the left field fence to make it 5-1. The homer for Cerrato was the first of the season and the first of his career.
The Scots tacked on a run in the sixth on Taylor Bloye's two-out RBI single to right field. After Emory & Henry got a run back in the eighth, Forrest Hunter plated Donny Lewis with an RBI triple to left field for the final margin.
Kerr finished 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored for Covenant. Nine other Scots recorded one hit as Covenant finished with 12 hits on the afternoon. Harvey collected two steals to go along with a hit and a run scored.
Logan Forster (0-1) gets the loss for the visiting Wasps as he allowed five runs on five hits in four inning of work. Eli Straw, Ben Sexton, Zach Smith and Josh Macek each had a hit for Emory & Henry.
UP NEXT
Covenant and Emory & Henry will complete their three-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader. Both games will be seven innings long. Game one is set for 12 p.m.
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