MOUNT BERRY, Ga. -- The Covenant baseball team led for nearly the entire game, but host Berry rallied and walked off the Scots, 9-8, in the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday night at Bowdoin Field.
Covenant (12-15) took a 4-0 lead in the first inning and led 8-6 entering the eighth inning before Berry (20-9) pulled together the comeback win.
The Scots had 13 hits in the game, led by CJ Edmond and Alex Gonzalez with three each, as Covenant out-hit the host Vikings 13-8. Brett Kernodle and Hunter Christian also had two hits apiece.
A four-run first inning gave Covenant a 4-0 lead. Gonzalez and Edmond had consecutive RBI singles to make it 2-0 before a Berry error allowed Edmond to score. John Mitchell capped the inning with an RBI triple to the gap in right-center field that scored Christian from first.
Ahead 5-4 in the fourth, Gonzalez was at it again for Covenant as his two-run double brought home Tyler Moore and Kernodle to extend the Scots' lead to 7-4. In the fifth, Brooks DuBose contributed an RBI single to make it 8-5.
However, Berry scored one in the fifth and two more in the eighth to tie the score. In the eighth, it was Dylan Beasley's RBI single and Weston Bray's sacrifice fly that knotted the score at 8-8.
In the ninth inning, the Vikings loaded the bases with one out. After Covenant reliever Matt Reitz got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Casey Whitaker drew a bases loaded walk to bring home the winning run.
Gonzalez finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Edmond was 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Mitchell added two RBIs and a 1-for-2 effort at the plate. Covenant drew eight walks in the loss and stole nine bases in the game as Edmond, Christian, and Mitchell had two each.
Adam Carver made the start for Covenant and went 1.1 innings. Reitz (2-4) was the last of five relievers out of the Scots' bullpen and picked up the loss after throwing 1.2 innings.
JT Eggert (2-2) got the win in relief for the Vikings, going the final three innings allowing one hit with six strikeouts. Zack Walch and Whitaker had two hits each.
UP NEXT
Covenant will open a three-game USA South series at Piedmont on Friday. First pitch at Loudermilk Field is set for 7 p.m.
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