LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Caleb Bloye went 5-for-5, tying a modern single-game program record for hits, and drove in four runs to lead the Covenant baseball team past William Peace 12-5 in USA South action on Saturday afternoon.
The victory gives Covenant (15-13, 6-6 USA South) a three-game sweep of the visiting Pacers after notching a pair of wins in Friday's doubleheader. William Peace drops to 8-19 overall and 1-11 in the USA South.
Bloye becomes just the second player in modern program history to record five hits in a game and the first since James Rollins collected five against Hiwassee on April 11, 2012.
But Bloye wasn't alone in the offensive outburst on Saturday. Luke Harvey went 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI, while Alex Kerr went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Taylor Bloye was 3-for-3 with three runs and a walk. Trenton Nobles finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk. Covenant tallied 17 hits off four different William Peace pitchers on the day.
The scoring started early for the Scots. Covenant jumped ahead with two runs in the first as Caleb Bloye laced an RBI triple to deep center field that scored Harvey to make it 1-0. Bloye later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
After William Peace got a run in the fourth, Covenant scored six in its half of the frame to open up an 8-1 advantage. Harvey hit a line shot that deflected off the first baseman's glove and trickled down the right field line for an RBI double. Nobles later drew a bases loaded walk and Caleb Bloye followed with a two-run single to make it 6-1. Two batters later, Kerr delivered a two-run single to right that gave the Scots an 8-1 lead.
William Peace answered with three unearned runs in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 8-4, but Covenant added two more in the bottom of the inning as Devin Cerrato and Nobles collected RBIs. The Scots made it 12-5 in the seventh as Nobles had an RBI single and Caleb Bloye capped his 5-for-5 day with a ringing double to right-center field that enabled Nobles to score.
All the offense was more than enough for the Covenant pitching staff. Starter Ryan Gosney went five innings allowing just one earned run on five hits with three strikeouts to pick up the victory. Relievers Alec Mitchell, Kerr and Taylor Bloye combined to allow one run over the final four innings.
William Peace starter Christian Neal (2-3) gets the loss as he surrendered eight runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings. Cullen Cicotte went 4-for-4 with two runs to lead the Pacers.