Covenant Baseball Rallies Past Maryville, 12-11

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Down 11-5 in the seventh inning, the Covenant baseball team scored six runs in the seventh and Alex Gonzalez's hustle on a potential double play in the bottom of the ninth allowed Harrison Adelgren to score the winning run as the Scots defeated Maryville, 12-11, on a chilly Friday afternoon.

It was the third straight win for Covenant (3-1, 1-0 USA South) over Maryville dating back to last season.

After leading 5-0 through four innings, Covenant found itself down by six runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The host Scots took advantage of six walks and a Hunter Christian two-run double to score six times in the seventh to knot the score at 11-11.

The score remained 11-11 until the bottom of the ninth. Adelgren singled off Maryville pitcher Anthony Rodriguez's glove and later advanced to third after consecutive wild pitches with no outs. The Scots eventually loaded the bases with one out and Gonzalez hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that could have been an inning-ending double play, but Gonzalez beat the relay throw to first and Adelgren scampered home with the winning run.

Josh Harvey went 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored for the Scots, while CJ Edmond also homered and was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

Covenant got out to a 5-0 lead after three innings, thanks to homers from Edmond and Harvey. Edmond hit a towering two-run homer over the foul pole in right field to cap a four-run second inning. Harvey's homer came in the third to leadoff the inning.

Marvyille (5-2, 0-1 USA South) scored 11 runs over the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Jimmy Meredith's two-run single in the sixth tied the game at 5-5 and Derek Hurt followed with an RBI single to give Maryville its first lead of the day at 6-5. Hurt tacked on a two-run double in the seventh to complete a five-run inning for Maryville and give the visitors an 11-5 lead.

Conor Austin (2-0) came on in relief for Covenant and tossed the final 1.2 innings of scoreless ball to collect the win. Jackson Heuer made the start and went five innings allowing three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts.

Rodriguez (0-1) was hit with the loss for Maryville after going 2.0 innings and giving up a run in relief. Jordan Davis started and allowed five runs, one earned, in the first three innings but settled down and threw six innings with nine strikeouts.

Hurt finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs for Maryville.

Covenant and Maryville will play a doubleheader on Saturday to wrap-up the series. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.