LAGRANGE, Ga. -- The Covenant baseball team saw its season come to an end on Friday with two losses in the USA South Tournament. The Scots fell in a winners' bracket game, 11-1, to No. 5 seed N.C. Wesleyan before falling in an elimination game, 17-10, to No. 6 seed Greensboro.
Covenant ends the season with a 17-22 overall record.
The losses ends the collegiate careers for seniors Matt Reitz, Jonah Carignan, John Mitchell, Tyrique Wilmore, and Donny Lewis. Mitchell broke the Covenant program single-season record for stolen bases with 27 as he collected five in the loss to Greensboro. Mitchell also tied a program single-season record for RBIs with 44 after tallying two on the day.
GAME ONE: N.C. Wesleyan 11, Covenant 1
Covenant fell behind early, had chances to score through the middle innings, but saw N.C. Wesleyan pull away for an 11-1 victory in Friday's winners' bracket game.
The Scots trailed 4-1 through the middle innings, but the Scots put together multiple opportunities to trim the deficit. However, Covenant left eight runners on base between the third, fourth, and fifth innings, including six in scoring position.
N.C. Wesleyan then opened the game with three runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to go ahead 11-1.
Jackson Heuer (5-3) was effective through the middle innings, but picked up the loss. Heuer went six innings and allowed six earned runs to go with three strikeouts. CJ Edmond had an RBI single in the first inning and finished 2-for-2 with three walks. Tyler Moore and Gonzalez also had two hits apiece in the loss.
Nate Gardner (2-1) got the win for N.C. Wesleyan after going seven innings and allowing one run on eight hits. Cedrick Kornegay was 4-for-5 with three runs, while Jackson Murray had three RBIs to lead N.C. Wesleyan (24-14) on offense.
GAME TWO: Greensboro 17, Covenant 10
Covenant took a 10-1 lead after four innings, but Greensboro stormed back to take a 17-10 victory and eliminate the Scots from the USA South Tournament.
Things looked good early on as the Scots scored six runs in the first inning. Edmond had a two-run double in the bottom of the first that was followed by a Lewis Saunders triple that also brought in two runs. Mitchell capped the first with a two-run single, giving him 44 RBIs on the season.
After Greensboro got a run in the second inning, Covenant tacked on two more runs as Brooks DuBose tripled home Saunders and Alex Gonzalez to make it 8-1. In the third, Moore and Hunter Christian had RBI singles to give the Scots a 10-1 lead.
The comeback for Greensboro (20-17) began in the fifth. Three walks sandwiched around three RBI hits led to five runs for the Pride that made Covenant's lead just 10-6. Greensboro continued the comeback trail in the sixth with four more runs to tie the game at 10-10.
Greensboro then took the lead for good with two runs in the seventh before adding a five-spot in the ninth to secure the win.
Covenant had 15 hits in the contest, led by Saunders' 4-for-5 effort with three runs and two RBIs. Mitchell went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, two runs, and five steals. Moore also added two hits in the loss.
Adam Carver (1-3) got the loss for Covenant after coming on relief of starter Matt Reitz. Clayton Slayter (4-3) received the win for the Pride after tossing the final 3.2 innings and allowing two hits.
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