Three Covenant baseball players had two hits each, but the Scots could not overcome three home runs by visiting LaGrange in a 10-5 loss in game one of a three-game series on Thursday.
All three games of the series between Covenant (5-4) and LaGrange (4-1) are non-conference contests.
Covenant trailed 6-0 entering the bottom of the third, but rallied back with a four-run inning. Alex Gonzalez hit a solo home run to right-center field to start the scoring for the Scots, his second homer of the season.
Back-to-back singles with two outs from Tyler Moore and Josh Harvey kept the inning alive for Brooks DuBose, who took advantage and crushed a three-run homer to left field.
The homer was DuBose's team-leading fourth of the year and got Covenant within 6-4.
LaGrange added a run in the fifth on a Cael Chatham solo homer before Jack Layrisson hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning to give the visiting Panthers a 10-4 lead.
Covenant had a chance in the seventh to crawl back into the game. The Scots loaded the bases with nobody out, but LaGrange reliever Tanner Chafin worked out of the job and allowed just one run to cross on a Harvey RBI ground out.
Gonzalez, Moore, and Harvey all had two hits each for Covenant, which outhit LaGrange 11-10. DuBose finished 1-for-4 with three RBIs and a home run.
The Covenant bullpen of Austin Clark, Aaron Northcutt, Ross Skipper, and Cody Gibson combined to toss 3.2 innings and allow just one run. Starter Adam Carver (1-2) was hit with the loss as he went 5.1 innings.
LaGrange starter Baley Coleman (2-0) went six innings and struck out 10, though he worked around nine Covenant hits.
EJ Churchich hit a three-run homer in the third inning for the Panthers and went 1-for-4. Joe Ruth, Chatham, and Trey Pearce all had two hits.
Covenant and LaGrange will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. on Lookout Mountain.