It was a record-setting day for the Covenant baseball team as the Scots pummeled visiting Averett, 22-0, in seven innings on a chilly and blustery day atop Lookout Mountain.
Covenant (8-4, 4-0 USA South) hit a program record five home runs, including two from Kenny Mills, and Trevor Grapenthin tied a single-game program record with six RBIs in the win. The Scots scored a program-record 15 runs in the third inning, while sending 19 batters to the plate.
It was the most lopsided win for Covenant since a 29-4 victory over Greensboro on March 22, 2014.
The Scots got production from everywhere in the lineup as each starter had at least one hit and one run scored in the win.
Grapenthin hit a grand slam in the big third inning and finished the day 3-for-3 with six RBIs and three runs scored. Grapenthin is the fourth player in program history to collect six RBIs in a game.
Mills also had three hits in three at-bats, including two home runs and three RBIs. Mills is the 12th player in program history to hit two home runs in a game.
Brooks DuBose had two hits, including a three-run home run, and drove in five, while Tyler Moore was 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBIs, and three runs scored. CJ Edmond and Hunter Christian had two hits apiece.
Covenant took a 2-0 lead into the third inning, but opened the floodgates in the frame with 15 runs on 12 hits. Averett pitching could not record an out in the inning until all 15 runs had crossed the plate.
DuBose started the scoring in the frame with a two-run single and Ken Alexander followed with an RBI single to make it 5-0. With the bases loaded, Grapenthin got one into the gusty winds blowing out to left field and got it over the left-center field fence for a grand slam, his first homer of the year, which gave the Scots a 9-0 lead.
The Scots weren't close to being done. After a pitching change, Covenant loaded the bases again and Moore delivered a three-run double to left field to bring the margin to 12-0. Two batters later, DuBose launched a home run to left field, a three-run shot, for a 15-0 lead. The homer was DuBose's first of the year.
Mills capped the long inning that lasted over 35 minutes with a towering, two-run homer over the scoreboard in left field to give the Scots a 17-0 lead. Mills also homered in the sixth inning, a solo shot to center field, to finish off the scoring.
Jackson Heuer (2-1) mowed down the Averett offense the rest of the way. Heuer tossed all seven innings and tied a career-high with eight strikeouts while scattering three hits and walking one. Heuer threw 101 pitches on the day, 64 for strikes.
In the fourth inning, Moore hit a no-doubt solo homer to left field to leadoff the frame. It was the second straight game that Moore has homered. Ken Burke and Max Wilson produced RBI hits in the fifth as the Scots went up 21-0.
Tyler Nuckols (0-4) got the loss for Averett (0-14, 0-7 USA South).
The final two games of the series are set for Saturday at 12 p.m.
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