Epse throws out a pitch in Monday's rescheduled double header.
photo by Anna Dove/Covenant Sports Information
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- After nine days off because of weather-related postponements, the Covenant softball field took the field under sunny and warm skies on Monday afternoon in a rescheduled doubleheader with Meredith. Covenant dropped game one 9-7 to its USA South counterparts before taking a 4-2 win in game two.
The win in game two snapped a brief three-game losing streak and moves the Lady Scots to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Meredith goes to 12-4 on the year and 6-2 in the USA South.
The teams were scheduled to play each other on Friday, March 13, but that doubleheader was pushed back to Monday due to rain.
Game 1: Meredith 9, Covenant 7
Jordan Brett went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, but Meredith got out to a big lead and held on in the seventh inning for a 9-7 victory in Monday's first game.
Brett had an RBI double in the first inning, a two-run double in the fifth and a two-run single in the seventh for her five RBIs. Covenant had just six hits total against Meredith starter Taylor Jackson, but Brett's bat kept the Lady Scots within striking distance.
Covenant took a 1-0 lead in the first on Brett's two-out double to right field that scored Joni Johnson. Meredith broke through with three runs in the third as Eran Artigues had an RBI single and Courtney Saunders drove in two with a single giving the visiting Avenging Angels a 3-1 lead.
Artigues homered, a two-run shot to left field, in the fifth to extend Meredith's lead to 5-1. The Lady Scots would get two runs back in their half of the fifth on Brett's two-run double to right-center field scoring both Nicole White and Kasey Hart.
Meredith pushed the lead out to 9-3 with four runs in the top of the sixth with Amanda White's bases-clearing triple the biggest hit of the frame.
Covenant chipped away at the deficit in the seventh scoring four times on four hits, but Amanda White closed the door on the comeback. Morgan Lane produced an RBI double, Brett had a two-run single and Madison Quirk doubled home another.
Jackson (11-2) picked up the win as she went five innings allowing three runs, two earned, on two hits with four strikeouts. Covenant's Cris Gant (2-2) is saddled with the loss after going five-plus innings giving up eight runs. Gant did strike out seven.
Artigues finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run, while White went 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBIs in the win for Meredith.
Game 2: Covenant 4, Meredith 2
In game two, Brett continued her hot hitting to lead Covenant to the victory.
After scoring four runs in the final inning of the first game, the Lady Scots kept the momentum rolling by jumping on game one winner Jackson in the first. With two on and one out, Brett launched a home run to left center to give Covenant the early lead and serve as the game-winning runs. The homer was Brett's first of the season.
Brett was in the middle of another rally in the third, as she doubled and scored one batter later on Quirk's two-bagger into the gap in left center.
Up 3-0 early, Covenant starter Tyler Epes (2-1) made the lead stand up in the victory. In going the distance, Epes gave up just five hits and two runs while walking one and striking out one. At one point, Epes retired nine in a row as she threw her first collegiate complete-game.
Meredith attempted a rally in the seventh when White doubled to leadoff the inning and was chased home on a Saunders double. Epes limited the damage from there as she got consecutive popouts to end the threat and the game.
The Lady Scots also played some good defense behind Epes, turning two double plays while only making one error and turning in some fine plays on the defensive side.
Brett was 2-of-3 with a double and a home run while scoring two runs and driving in three. Joni Johnson had two hits, including a double, and scored a run. Covenant outhit the Avenging Angels 7-5.
Jackson (11-3) gave up four runs, all earned, in six innings. She walked three and struck out seven.
Covenant will have another doubleheader coming up on Wednesday, when they face USA South rival Maryville on Lookout Mountain starting at 2 p.m.