DEMOREST, Ga. -- No. 24 Piedmont proved too much for Covenant baseball on Saturday, as the Scots fell twice by 7-1 and 8-4 scores at Loudermilk Field in Demorest.

GAME ONE: Piedmont 7, Covenant 1

A first-inning lead was short-lived as the Covenant offense was held scoreless over the final eight frames, falling 7-1 in game one.

Sam Cecil collected a pair of knocks, while Elliott Eastin and Drake Swiger added hits as well. Zach Barrett was excellent in relief of starter Adkin Finch (3-4), going six frames with just one run allowed. He struck out four.

In the first frame, the Scots were able to bring a run across to take an early lead, as Daniel Bell's sacrifice fly brought home Roby McClarnon to put Covenant ahead 1-0.

However, the Lions would score seven unanswered from that point on, and their starter Layne Ayers (2-1) struck out 11 over his seven innings to earn the win.

Ben Bodoh had three hits to head up the Lions' offense.

GAME TWO: Piedmont 8, Covenant 4

The Scots were able to reach base 11 times, but could not keep pace with Piedmont in game two, falling 8-4.

Daniel Bell drove in his second RBI of the day on a solo homer, while Mitchell Bryce added a hit and an RBI of his own and Roby McClarnon scored a pair of runs. Jonathan Glover (3-2) struck out four opponents in his 4.2 innings of relief.

Similarly to game one, the Scots (11-20, 4-11 CCS) pushed in front in the first, this time on a wild pitch. The Lions (24-9, 10-2 CCS) would counter in the bottom of the frame with two runs, and then added four more between the second and fourth innings to extend the deficit to 6-1.

Bell retorted with a solo shot in the fifth to attempt to get Covenant back into it, and then a run in each of the sixth and seventh frames trimmed the Piedmont lead to three. 

A late Lions run would put the lead back at four, though, and Luke Manry (SV, 7) shut the door in the ninth to seal the sweep for Piedmont.

Cody Funk and John Dickerson had three-hit games to lead the Lions' game two offense.

UP NEXT

A home midweek contest with Berry awaits at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

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.