COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Covenant softball dropped their pair of games on day one of the MUW Invitational on Friday, falling in game one, 3-2, to MUW, and then 8-7 to Sewanee.

GAME ONE: MUW 3, Covenant 2

MUW left fielder Brianna Byrd threw out the would-be tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, as the Scots fell, 3-2, to host MUW in game one.

Cassidi Phillips led the offensive charge with a 2-for-4 effort at the dish, while Charley Clark (0-1) dealt a quality outing in the circle, throwing all six innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out four. She walked none.

The Owls got on the board first in the game with a pair of first-inning runs, but Cailey Barnett had a response in the fourth, doubling home Lexi Tincknell to cut the deficit to 2-1.

After the Owls added another run in the fifth, Covenant again mounted a response, as Phillips stole a base and then wisely sprinted home on a wild pitch to make it 3-2 with an inning to play.

Madison Taylor led off the inning with a walk, and then Julie Mavity sacrifice bunted to move Taylor into scoring position. With two away, Phillips hit a single to left, and Taylor rounded third with the tying run. However, the throw from Byrd beat her there, ending the game.

Phallyn Clark (1-0) earned the win for MUW, throwing 5.1 two-run innings, picking up a pair of strikeouts. Gillion Eaves, Addison Owen, and Brooklyn Rhodes had two hits each for the Owl offense.

GAME TWO: Sewanee 8, Covenant 7

After multiple valiant comebacks, Covenant fell in game two on a walk-off single, 8-7, to Sewanee. 

Madison Taylor and Julie Mavity collected multiple hits in the contest, and those two along with Cailey Barnett and Gracie Lacle earned RBIs.

In a back-and-forth game, the Tigers jumped out early with a three-run second inning before a Taylor RBI double and a Mavity RBI groundout made it 3-2 at the end of the third.

Sewanee would then extend their lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the third and fourth innings on a pair of run-scoring doubles.

However, the Scots rallied from there, scoring five unanswered to take a 7-6 lead. Barnett and Cassidi Phillips began things by scoring on a wild pitch, and then Gracie Lacle's RBI groundout made it 6-5 heading into the final frame.

In the top of the seventh, Mavity reached on a throwing error, and then Phillips likewise forced an error that put two runners on with one out. Barnett followed with an RBI single through the left side, and then Phillips scored on a passed ball to give Covenant the lead.

However, Sewanee had one final rally in them, as Ansley Giffin singled to center to bring home the winning run in the bottom of the frame.

Reagen Huskey (1-0) earned the win for the Tigers, while Elizabeth Yother (0-1) got the loss for the Scots.

UP NEXT

The Scots finish up the MUW Invitational tomorrow, playing Sewanee again at 11 a.m. and then MUW at 1 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.