Covenant opens with pair of wins

The Covenant College baseball team opened its season Saturday by defeating Berea 7-0 and 4-3 on Lookout Mountain.

Tyler Smith and Demarius Johnson combined to pitch a two-hitter with two walks and 10 strikeouts in the first game, when the Scots took three walks and were hit by nine pitches, including five in one inning. Jonathan Carter was 2-for-2 with a two-run double and two runs scored, and Sterling Witt was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Taylor Oldham was 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs for Covenant in the second game, when Harrison Fisher was 2-for-4 and Andre Glover got the pitching win with a save from Brian Simons.

n Lee 8-6, Shawnee 3-4: At Cleveland, the NAIA's No. 2 team responded to Friday's loss by sweeping Saturday's games. Jay Bolen (2-0) allowed only one earned run in six innings in the 8-3 win, when Travis Anderson was 3-for-4, Michael Brown was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Roberto Reyes and Preston Scoggins homered for Lee (6-1), accounting for three and two runs. Reyes was 3-for-4 with another homer and two RBIs, Seth Walker was 3-for-4 with two runs and Brown was 2-for-2 with an RBI in game two.

n Tennessee Wesleyan 10-12, Brescia 0-0: At Athens, the Bulldogs got two five-inning shutout wins.

n Bryan 8-6, Indiana Southeast 2-4: At Dayton, the host Lions rallied from a 10-inning loss Friday night to sweep the visitors Saturday behind Jason Ridenhour's five-hit, eight-strikeout pitching and Shane Clawson's three RBIs and three runs in the first game and Josh King's fifth-inning grand slam in the series finale. Kevin Layne was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the 8-2 win, and Dewayne Boyd was 3-for-3 and Andrew Smith was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the last game, when Tanner Brown got the win and Tyler Vakey got the save.

n Chattanooga State 5-9, Georgia Perimeter 1-2: At Chattanooga State, Patrick Merkling gave up two hits with eight strikeouts in six innings and Max Aeschlimann allowed three hits in six innings as the Tigers improved to 6-0. Tyler Roach and Zeth Stone each drove in two runs in each game, Roach with two hits in the opener and a homer in game two, and Dylan Coleman had two hits in each game. Gabe Herman, Zack Zarzour, Mark Strong and J.D. Pullen also had two hits apiece in the second game.

n Gordon 5-9, Cleveland State 4-4: At Barnesville, Ga., although the Cougars fell to 0-4, Galen Smith was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the first game and Trevor Burgess had a two-run home in the rematch, when Brandon Rader was 3-for-4 and Derek Shugart was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored.

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