GREENSBORO, N.C. - Perry Rigby went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and KC Simons was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and the Covenant baseball team routed USA South foe Greensboro 14-1 in seven innings on Friday night in Greensboro.
The win is Covenant's fourth straight in conference play and moves the Scots to 10-6 overall and 7-3 in league play. Greensboro drops to 2-14 overall and 1-11 inside the conference.
Covenant did most of its damage offensively in the second and third innings. The Scots scored seven times in the second inning and five more times in the third inning to build a 12-0 lead. Seven different players recorded at least one RBI for Covenant.
The offensive barrage was in support of starting pitcher Micah Mabe. Mabe (1-0) notched his first win of the season as he went six innings and scattered five hits and surrendered one unearned run in the process. The lefty struck out seven and walked two in picking up his first win of the season. Jonah Paul came on in relief and pitched a perfect seventh inning.
11 Covenant batters came to the plate in the seven-run second inning. Scott Gillespie and Rigby led off the frame with hits and Will Carlton followed with an RBI single that plated Gillespie for the game's first run. One batter later, Forrest Hunter drove in a pair with a double to make it 3-0. Simons batted in two runs with a double down the right field line that enabled Hunter and Paul Phillips to score. Simons later scored on a wild pitch and Rigby capped the frame with an RBI single to make it 7-0.
Covenant added five more runs in the third on the strength of two-run singles from Will Cleland and Rigby along with a Phillips RBI double to give the Scots a comfortable 12-0 lead.
The Scots tallied single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Simons picked up his third RBI of the night with a single in the sixth, while Alex Kerr recorded an RBI with a single in the seventh.
Besides Rigby and Simons' efforts at the dish, Phillips was 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI and Gillespie was 2-for-4 with a run. Hunter went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs on the night.
Zach Royals (0-2) was saddled with the loss for the host Pride. Royals lasted 1.1 innings and allowed six earned runs on seven hits. Greensboro was led offensively by Andrew Hernandez's 2-for-3 effort. Jordan Powell finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
The two teams will play games two and three of the three-game weekend series on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m.