After holding Messiah to just three hits in the series opener on Friday, the Covenant baseball team struggled to stop Messiah's offense in Saturday's doubleheader. The Falcons combined for 31 runs across two games to take the series.
Game 1 Final: Covenant 7, Messiah 19 Back-to-back RBI base hits in the first inning for the Falcons put them ahead 2-0. Kenny Mills put the Scots on the board with a RBI single up the middle in the third inning that scored Zeke Gilbert.
Three runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a 2-RBI single to right field that was just out of reach from a diving Chase McBryar, put Messiah up 5-1.
Cody Gibson scored Cody Brewer in the fourth inning on a RBI groundout to shortstop.
Messiah tacked on another run in the fifth inning on a RBI double to right-center field.
The Scots kept fighting as Ben Johnson knocked in a pair with a 2-RBI double to left-center field to make it 6-4.
Isaiah Parido blasted a 2-run home run to left field in the sixth inning and the Falcons added another run in the frame on a RBI single.
A grand slam from Evan Wagaman made it 13-4 in the seventh inning.
The Falcons kept swinging as they brought home three more runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
McBryar launched his second home run of the year in the ninth inning, a 2-run shot to left field.
Game 2 Final (7 innings): Covenant 8, Messiah 12 The Falcons kept their offensive attack going in the first inning as they scored three runs, highlighted by Wagaman's second home run of the afternoon. A pair of unearned runs in the third inning put Messiah up 5-0. Later in the frame, a 3-run shot from Ryan Friend put the Falcons in front 8-0.
A RBI single down the left-field line in the fourth inning from Chris Savage that scored Gilbert started a big rally for the Scots. The next batter was Mills, who crushed a 2-run home run to left-center field.
Two batters later, Sam Cecil drove in McBryar with a RBI single to make it 8-4. The inning ended with the score at 8-6 after the Scots added two more runs via a wild pitch and a Harrison Adelgren RBI single to left field. A bases-loaded walk and a RBI sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, scored two runs for Messiah to make it 10-6. Covenant kept battling as a RBI triple down the right field line from Mills ignited a two-run inning to put the score at 10-8. Joshua Ammons gave the Falcons some insurance in the seventh inning with a 2-run home run to left-center field.
UP NEXT: The Scots take on Emory at home on Friday, Mar. 1 at 2 p.m.