LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Andrew Beck's single in the bottom of the 11th inning lifted host Covenant to a 2-1 win over Methodist baseball on Friday afternoon.
The Monarchs (2-2, 0-1 USAS) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning after
Stephen Nalls reached first after being hit by a pitch and was advanced to third on a
Cody Molosky single to right center field. Nalls was brought home by the next batter,
Davis Cass, who tallied the only RBI of the night for the Monarchs with a single to center field.
Covenant (4-0, 1-0 USAS) knotted up the score 1-1 in the next inning, loading up the bases from two singles and a throwing error. Scott Gilliespie reached first on a fielder's choice, bringing in Beck for the tying run.
Methodist had a quality scoring chance in the top of the eighth inning when
Matt Jack singled to center field, and was replaced by pinch runner
Alex Dockery. Dockery was advanced to second by a
Lucas Scott base knock to center, and soon moved to third after
Pete Wildeboer reached on a fielder's choice. The inning ended on the next at bat, as Nalls grounded out to third base.
The Green and Gold were inches away from taking the lead in the top of the 11th as Molosky reached on a fielder's choice, putting two Monarchs on the corners. With two outs, Molosky stole second, with Cass at the plate. Alec Mitchell (1-0) grabbed the win for the Scots by forcing Cass to ground out to the infield, leaving two men on base.
Covenant's Alex Kerr singled to left field with one out in the bottom half of the 11th inning and two batters later Luke Harvey singled to left. With two on first and second base, Beck ended the contest with his game-winning single to left, putting the final score at 2-1.
Rett Lee took the loss for the Monarchs after pitching 2.2 innings and allowing five hits and one run. Methodist utilized three other pitchers,
Ross Leggett, who started for MU and pitched for five innings, only allowed three hits and one run, and
Aaron O'Neil (two innings) and
Nick Norton (one inning) who each only gave up one hit. O'Neil added four strikeouts and Norton chipped in two.
For Methodist, Scott went 2-for-5 and
Colin Ford recorded a double after pinch hitting for Wildeboer in the top of the 11th.
Gilliespie led for the Scots, going 2-for-4 with one RBI and Harvey registered two hits.
Methodist continues the away series tomorrow with a double header starting at 11 am.
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