The Covenant baseball team completed its first series sweep of the season as the Scots defeated visiting Emory & Henry 8-7 in game one and 6-1 in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. Both games were scheduled for seven innings.
Covenant runs its record to .500 at 3-3 on the year, while Emory & Henry drops to 0-3. Covenant is now 16-1 all-time against Emory & Henry and has won the last 11 meetings.
GAME ONE: Covenant 8, Emory & Henry 7
The bats were going in game one as the Scots scored eight runs on nine hits before holding off a late Emory & Henry rally for an 8-7 victory.
Luke Harvey went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and seven other Scots recorded a hit in the contest.
Trenton Nobles had an RBI and two runs scored, while Caleb Bloye, Taylor Bloye and Donny Lewis each produced RBIs.
The offense backed a solid start from Drew Bradley. Bradley (1-1) went six innings allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts to notch his first victory of the season. Taylor Bloye came on in relief in the seventh to work out of a jam and recorded his first save of the year.
Covenant got on the board with a run in the second as Lewis drove home Forrest Hunter with an RBI single. After Emory & Henry tied the score at 1-1 in the third, Covenant scored twice in its half of the inning to grab a 3-1 lead. Nobles tripled home Harvey and later scored on a Wasps fielding error.
The Scots stretched the lead to 5-1 in the fourth as Devin Cerrato scored on an error followed by a Caleb Bloye RBI single. In the sixth, the lead reached 8-1 with Taylor Bloye picking up an RBI single in the frame.
Emory & Henry worked its way back into the game in the top of the seventh, scoring five times on three hits. Taylor Bloye came on in relief to thwart the rally and secure the victory.
Ben Sexton went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Wasps and Josh Macek added two hits and an RBI. Starter Garrett Butler (0-1) lasted four inning allowing three earned runs on seven hits to receive the loss.
GAME TWO: Covenant 6, Emory & Henry 1
Zach Kyzer tossed five innings of three-hit ball and Covenant completed the sweep with a 6-1 victory in Saturday's second game.
Kyzer (1-1) picked up his first collegiate win after going five shutout innings and surrendering just three hits. The right-hander struck out five and walked three while throwing 88 pitches, 55 for strikes, in his outing.
Covenant again struck first as a Caleb Bloye RBI ground out scored Zack Walch in the first inning. The Scots extended that lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Nobles reached on a bunt single that enabled Cerrato to score from second. Caleb Bloye followed with a sacrifice fly and Nobles later scored himself on a wild pitch for the 4-0 lead.
The Scots tacked on two more runs in the sixth after Emory & Henry scored in its half of the inning. Taylor Bloye scampered home on a wild pitch before Cerrato singled home Lewis to put Covenant ahead 6-1.
Taylor Bloye came on in relief in the sixth to work out of a jam and preserve a 4-1 lead and then worked a perfect seventh inning to record the save. Nobles finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Cerrato went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI. Walch scored a pair of runs and Caleb Bloye drove in two.
Nick Lesnak (0-1) went four innings and allowed four runs on six hits for the Wasps to pick up the loss. Macek, Hunter Jeffries and Zach Smith recorded the only hits for Emory & Henry.
UP NEXT
Covenant plays its first mid-week game of the year on Wednesday when it travels to Atlanta to face Oglethorpe. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.