Covenant baseball sweeps doubleheader from Wasps
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Garrett Kriston threw a complete-game with 12 strikeouts and Caleb Bloye hit a three-run home run in game one before Trenton Nobles' walk-off single in the second game lifted the Covenant baseball team a doubleheader sweep of Emory & Henry on Friday.
Covenant took the first game 6-3 before rallying with a two-run seventh inning for a 6-5 victory in game two.
The Scots remain perfect on the year at 4-0 while Emory & Henry drops to 0-5 overall.
GAME ONE: Covenant 6, Emory & Henry 3
Kriston struck out 12 in a seven-inning complete game and Bloye's three-run blast in the fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie as the Scots took the first game of the series 6-3.
Kriston was untouchable through the first two innings as he struck out five of the first six batters he faced. The senior right-hander got into trouble in the third as the visiting Wasps scored twice to take a 2-0 lead. However, Kriston (2-0) settled back down and retired seven of the final eight hitters he faced and struck out the side in the seventh to seal the win. Kriston allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits with three walks on the afternoon
After falling behind 2-0, Covenant knotted the score at 2 with a pair of runs in the third. Kyle Delk led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch. Alex Kerr singled home Luke Harvey with two outs to make it 2-2.
In the fourth, Perry Rigby led off with a triple and scored on Forrest Hunter's RBI ground out giving the Scots a 3-2 lead. The Wasps tied it again in the fifth, but Covenant took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning.
Devin Cerrato doubled to leadoff the bottom of the fifth followed by a Harvey bunt single. Bloye then took the first pitch of his at-bat and deposited over the center field fence for a three-run homer giving Covenant a 6-3 lead. The home run was the first of the year for Bloye.
Cerrato, Harvey and Kerr had two hits apiece to lead Covenant's 12-hit attack.
Emory & Henry starter Aaron Sparks (0-1) gets the loss after surrendering five earned runs over five innings of work. The Wasps managed just four hits in the contest offensively.
GAME TWO: Covenant 6, Emory & Henry 5
In the second game, Covenant fell behind 5-3 in the late innings before rallying and securing the doubleheader sweep on Nobles' bases-loaded walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 victory.
Covenant struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning as Kerr produced an infield RBI single followed by a Joel Johnson RBI ground out giving the Scots a 2-0 lead. After the Wasps scored one in the second, Kerr delivered again in the third with an RBI single to center field for a 3-1 lead.
One run in the fifth and three more in the sixth gave Emory & Henry a 5-3 lead. Covenant got a run back in the sixth on Harvey's two-out double to center field that plated Ryan Gosney, but Harvey was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple to end the inning.
In the seventh, Kerr tied the game with a double down the left field line that enabled pinch runner Delk to score all the way from first to make it 5-5. Johnson followed with a single and Rigby was intentionally walked to load the bases with nobody out. Nobles then came through with a sharp single to right field giving Covenant the sweep.
Alec Mitchell (1-0) came on in relief in the sixth inning and picks up the win. Starter Matt Reitz allowed two runs with four strikeouts over 4.2 innings of work.
Kerr finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Harvey also had three hits for Covenant.
Emory & Henry's Holden Watkins went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI to lead the Wasps. Reliever Zach Shepherd (0-2) gets the loss after allowing three runs in two innings.