LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Backed by a strong outing from Andrew Cline and two runs in the seventh inning, the Covenant baseball team took game one of Saturday's doubleheader, 6-4, against No. 12 Huntingdon in USA South action.
Huntingdon would take the series win, however, with a 16-1 victory in the finale.
Covenant goes to 12-14 on the year and 5-9 in the USA South. Huntingdon is now 20-7 overall and 12-5 in league play.
GAME ONE: Covenant 6, Huntingdon 4
Cline threw seven strong innings and the Scots scored two runs in the seventh inning to take the lead for good in a 6-4 victory in Saturday's first game.
With the score tied at 4-4 in the seventh, Covenant scraped together two runs on just one hit to take the lead once again. Hunter Christian singled before John Mitchell and Brooks DuBose followed with consecutive walks to load the bases with one out. A wild pitch from Huntingdon reliever John Crawford brought home Christian with the go-ahead run. The Scots tacked on one more on Ken Alexander's sacrifice fly to right field.
Matt Reitz then shut the door on the visiting Hawks to earn the save. Reitz tossed two scoreless innings and struck out two as he picked up his first save of the season.
Cline (4-2) allowed two runs in the first inning, but settled down and went seven innings allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits to go with five strikeouts. The right-hander had three straight shutout innings after Huntingdon scored twice in the first inning to help Covenant to a 4-2 lead.
After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, Covenant answered with four runs in the home half of the inning. Christian drew a bases loaded walk for the Scots' first run before Mitchell hit into a fielder's choice that allowed Tyler Moore to score and tie the game at 2-2. A wild pitch let in CJ Edmond and the inning was capped with a DuBose RBI single to make it 4-2.
Huntingdon scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to even the score before the Scots pulled ahead for good.
Edmond went 2-for-5, while six other Scots had a hit apiece.
Jacob Munn (2-1) got the loss in relief as he surrendered the two runs in the seventh. Brooks Freeman made the start and went six innings allowing four runs on six hits. Garrett Breland was 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Wes Powell also had two hits.
GAME TWO: Huntingdon 16, Covenant 1
Huntingdon scored four runs in an inning three times as the Hawks took the series victory with a 16-1 win in the finale.
Powell went 3-for-4 with four runs and Heath Haskins had a hit and three RBIs to lead the Hawks to the win. Wallace Henry (5-1) tossed seven innings and allowed one run to collect his fifth win of the year.
Huntingdon took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Covenant answered back with a run in the bottom of the frame. Tommy Easley singled home Mitchell to even the score at 1-1.
However, the Hawks would score 15 unanswered runs over the next six innings to come away with the win.
Easley went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Tyrique Wilmore (0-1) made the start and went 2.2 innings allowing one earned run on three hits. Covenant used five pitchers out of the bullpen.
Tri Overby and Colton Clark had two hits each for the Hawks, who had 14 hits as a team in the win.
UP NEXT
Covenant travels to face Berry for a non-conference game on Tuesday. First pitch in Mount Berry, Ga., is set for 6 p.m.
CONNECT WITH THE SCOTS
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. To receive text alerts with score updates or e-newsletters, click here
