LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Covenant baseball got career days from Drew Avant and Jonathan Ponder, along with 19 hits overall, to slug their way to an 18-11 win.

Avant and Ponder earned starts for the Scots (10-13, 3-4 CCS) due to a rash of injuries, and made good of them, with Avant going 5-for-5 with two RBIs and Ponder going 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBIs and a walk, proving they, too, can step up in the big moments. 

Nate Jones also added a pair of homers to highlight his three-hit day, Daniel Counts drove in four, three on a no-doubt homer to left, and Roby McClarnon secured a pair of hits and a walk.

The incredible high-scoring act got started in the first inning, when the Scots jumped on LaGrange (13-12, 2-5 CCS) starter Beau Collier, as Counts' homer and Avant's RBI single put Covenant up 4-0.

The Panthers were able to put up four of their own in the top of the second to notch things up, but Ponder and Jones went back-to-back in the bottom of the second to put the Scots back up 6-4.

In the third, LaGrange knotted things again at six, only to see Ponder come through again in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to put Covenant back up 7-6. The fourth was similar, another tying run by LaGrange in the top of the inning, followed this time by a Sam Cecil RBI single in the bottom of the frame, making it 8-7.

Finally, the Panthers looked to have gained the upper hand, when, in the sixth, they broke through for their first lead of the game on a four-run rally, assisted by a pair of Covenant errors.

However, the Scots wanted their lead back.

Ponder did the initial portion, bringing in two runs on a single to close the gap to 11-10, and then in the eighth, a crucial two-out error by LaGrange on a hard-hit ball by Daniel Bell squeaked into right field scored the tying run, Counts, from second. 

That was not all.

Avant, in the biggest at bat of his career, had the go-ahead run at third and two outs with a tough sidewinding righty in the game. He worked a 3-2 count, and then did what he'd done all game, punching a perfect line drive into left for what would be the game-winning RBI.

After Avant and Bell lifted the lull from the dugout, the rest of the group followed, as Eastin doubled, Ponder walked, Jones homered, McClarnon singled, and Counts doubled to conclude an eight-run frame to put the game out of reach.

Brady Daniell shut the door in the ninth, allowing just one hit and striking out two. Jonathan Glover (3-1) earned the win behind four innings of solid relief.

Curt Bonner and Matthew Brown had three hits apiece to lead LaGrange's offense, while Blake Myers (1-3) was handed a tough loss after allowing six unearned runs.

UP NEXT

The two teams face off twice tomorrow to determine the series, beginning at 12 p.m.

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