The Covenant College baseball team started its final home series of the year on Friday, with its rival Maryville coming to town. One big inning for Maryville proved to be the decider in game one, as it defeated Covenant 10-5.
Final: Covenant 5, Maryville 10 After the first two batters of the game were retired, Maryville mustered up a pair of RBI hits, including a RBI double to left-center field to give it a 2-0 lead. Maryville threatened to add another run in the second inning, but left fielder Kolby Kimberly threw out a runner at home who tried to score from second base on a single.
In the third inning, Chris Savage tied the game with his fourth home run of the year, a two-run shot to left field. Five runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run home from Colin Dunworth for Maryville put it back in front 7-2. Four of the five runs were unearned after an infield throwing error by Covenant. Savage scored another run for the Scots in the seventh inning with a RBI single through the right side. A pair of RBI doubles and a RBI single for Maryville put the game away in the ninth inning. Covenant scored its fourth and fifth runs in the ninth inning on a wild pitch and a RBI sacrifice fly by Ben Johnson.
Covenant moves to 15-25 all-time against Maryville. Maryville outhit Covenant 16-7.
Covenant committed two errors while Maryville had one. Savage and Sam Cecil each had two hits to lead the Covenant offense. Savage also drew two walks. Bryce Bollinger (7 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K) suffered his third defeat of the season on the mound. Zach Tolleson (1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER), Austin Clark (0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB), and Jackson Rau (0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER) all pitched in relief.
Covenant wrap up their three-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at noon. The Senior Day ceremony will take place in between games.