The Covenant baseball team began their second CCS series of the year on Good Friday against LaGrange. The weather warmed up, but the Covenant bats were cold as the Panthers shutout the Scots.
Final: Covenant 0, LaGrange 7 A costly infield error in the first inning with two outs allowed LaGrange to move ahead 2-0. The Panthers made it 3-0 in the second inning via a RBI sacrifice-fly to right field.
A lead off home run to left field to begin the fourth inning put LaGrange up 4-0. The Scots had a runner on third base with two outs in the fifth inning, but pinch-hitter Elliot Eastin hit a hard line drive that was caught by the shortstop to end the threat. The Panthers delivered their second solo home run of the afternoon in the seventh to make it 5-0. A 2-RBI double in the ninth inning scored LaGrange's sixth and seventh runs of the game.
Covenant moves to 17-26 all-time against LaGrange. The Scots were outhit 10-5 by the Panthers. Covenant committed two errors while LaGrange had one. Kenny Mills led the offense with a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
RHP Bryce Bollinger (7 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 5 K, 2 HBP) suffered his second loss of the year on the mound. RHP Ethan Goebert (2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 K) pitched the final two innings in relief.
Covenant and LaGrange wrap up their series tomorrow with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 12 p.m. .
The Covenant softball team welcomed St. Olaf all the way from Minnesota for a Good Friday doubleheader. On a perfect day for softball, Covenant dropped both games.
Final: Covenant 3, St. Olaf 10 With the bases loaded in the first inning, St. Olaf scored three runs on a base hit to the outfield with two outs that was just out of reach from Mary Elaine Mitchell. The next batter made it 4-0 with a RBI double to right field.
Ashlyn Gaines scored a run after reaching via an infield error in the fourth inning. A RBI sacrifice-fly to center field later in the frame by Lakyn Hacker made it 4-2. St. Olaf responded with three runs in the fifth inning using a RBI double, a RBI sacrifice fly, and an infield error.
In the sixth inning, St. Olaf made it 10-2 on a RBI single followed by a 2-run home run to left-center field. Mitchell scored Olivia Stefl in the seventh inning on a RBI single through the right side to give Covenant its third and final run.
Both teams had 12 hits. Covenant committed two errors while St. Olaf had one. Mitchell had a perfect afternoon at the plate going 4-for-4 with 1 RBI.
Helena Nagy and Stefl each had two hits. Valery Baxter took the loss for Covenant on the mound (6 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 1 BB).
Game 2 Final: Covenant 4, St. Olaf 6 Two walks and a HBP led to St. Olaf jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Five runs on five hits in the third inning, highlighted by a 2-RBI double with two outs put St. Olaf on top 6-0.
Bailey Johnson crushed her second home run of the season to lead off the third inning to get Covenant on the scoreboard. The Scots had another homer in the fifth inning, this one off the bat of pinch-hitter Isabella Duran that scored three runs to make it 6-4. Covenant reached two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but were unable to draw any closer to St. Olaf.
Covenant moves to 0-2 all-time against St. Olaf. St. Olaf outhit Covenant 10-9. The Scots committed two errors while the Olees had none. Taylor Murdock and Stefl each had two hits to lead the Scots offensively. Mackenzie Kirby (2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) and Madison Bowden (4.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R) pitched for Covenant
Covenant travels to Piedmont tomorrow for a conference doubleheader starting at noon.