MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- The Covenant baseball team suffered a 9-1 loss to Maryville on Thursday night in the opener of a three-game USA South series.

The series was moved up a day because of predicted poor weather on Saturday. The teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader on Friday afternoon starting at 3 p.m.

Maryville (20-5, 5-5 USA South) scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and Covenant (9-14, 7-6 USA South) would not be able to recover.

Devin Cerrato went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Covenant, while Caleb Bloye was 2-for-5 on the night. The Scots had eight hits in the contest, but left 10 runners on base. Covenant had at least one runner in scoring position in six different innings on the night, but only came through on one of those chances.

Covenant's lone run in the game came in the third inning. Austin Trammell led off with a double before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Cerrato singled to left field to plate Trammell and cut the Scots' deficit to 4-1. Later in the inning, Covenant loaded the bases with only one out, however Maryville starter Anthony Rodriguez retired the next two hitters to avoid further damage.

Maryville scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings before capping the victory with a two-run eighth inning. Andrew Henry was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Christian Poulsen drove in two runs and Hayden Hollingsworth scored three times.

Rodriguez (2-2) got the win for Maryville after going six innings and giving up one run on five hits with seven strikeouts. Jerod Dickey tossed the final three innings to collect the save.

Drew Bradley got the nod in the series opener for Covenant. Bradley (1-5) lasted 4.1 innings and surrendered six runs on six hits. Tristen Green threw 2.2 innings in relief and allowed one run despite not surrendering a base hit.

UP NEXT

Covenant and Maryville will wrap-up the series on Friday with a doubleheader. Game one is set for 3 p.m.

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