DECATUR, Ga. -- Lauren Kierpa threw two complete-game shutouts and the Covenant softball team continued its winning ways with 4-0 and 9-0 wins at Agnes Scott in a USA South doubleheader on Saturday at Oakhurst Park.
Covenant (14-12, 3-1 USA South) is 3-1 in conference play for the first time since 2018. The Scots have won six straight and 14 of the last 18 games overall.
Kierpa, who entered the week leading the nation in complete-games, has thrown 13 complete games this season and saw her season ERA lowered to 3.57 after the two shutouts.
GAME ONE: Covenant 4, Agnes Scott 0
Kierpa tossed her second shutout of the season and Covenant took advantage of five Agnes Scott errors to take game one, 4-0.
Kierpa (11-7) was outstanding once again in the circle as she went the distance and scattered six hits while striking out seven. The right-hander threw 99 pitches, 64 for strikes, in the victory.
Agnes Scott had a runner reach third just twice in the game.
Covenant scratched across four runs, all of them unearned, off Agnes Scott starter Regan Hutto.
Tori Layfield hit a one-out double in the second and came around to score on a throwing error on Taylor Murdock's grounder to put the Scots ahead 1-0.
The Scots pulled away with three runs in the fifth. Makenna Dance led off with a single and Covenant loaded the bases with no outs. A Vanessa Davis sacrifice fly made it 2-0 before Aileen Hill delivered a two-run single to right field that made it 4-0.
Layfield went 2-for-3 with a double as Covenant tallied four hits. Dance and Hill had the other two hits.
Hutto (2-1) also went all seven innings in the circle for Agnes Scott and allowed four unearned runs on four hits. Gigi Elizondo went 2-for-3 for the Scotties.
GAME TWO: Covenant 9, Agnes Scott 0
The Scots needed just five innings to complete the sweep as Kierpa threw another gem and Aileen Hill had three hits and four RBIs in a 9-0 victory.
Kierpa (12-7) was effective and efficient once again as she needed only 68 pitches, 47 for strikes, to work through the Agnes Scott lineup and throw her second straight shutout. The junior struck out six and allowed five hits with no walks in the win.
Covenant struck first in the second inning as Faith Manning scampered home on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. In the third, Covenant scored three runs as Hill drove in Vanessa Davis with an RBI single before a two-out error allowed two more Scots to score.
A three-run fourth inning put the game out of reach. Davis had an RBI ground out and Hill followed with an RBI single to make it 6-0. Layfield capped the frame with an RBI single that plated Hill.
The Scots tacked on two more runs in the fifth as Hill produced a two-out, two-run double to make it 9-0. It was Hill's team-leading sixth multi-RBI game of the season.
Jordan Holman went 2-for-4 as the Scots tallied nine hits in the win. Makenna Dance and Emma Giller also had hits.
Jani Howington (0-1) got the loss for Agnes Scott after allowing five earned runs in five innings of work.
UP NEXT
Covenant will travel to Maryville for a key USA South doubleheader on Saturday, April 3. Game one is set for 1 p.m.
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