LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Solid pitching and timely hitting helped the Covenant baseball team to a pair of wins over Averett on Saturday to complete a three-game series sweep. The Scots took game one, 4-2, before capping the series with a 9-3 win in the finale.
It is the second conference series sweep for Covenant (10-4, 6-0 USA South) this season. It's also the first time since 2014 that the Scots have registered two series sweeps in a season.
GAME ONE: Covenant 4, Averett 2
After falling behind 2-0, the Scots scored four runs over the middle innings and Andrew Cline was strong on the mound as Covenant took game one, 4-2.
Averett scored single runs in the second and third innings to grab a 2-0 lead, but Covenant answered back. Josh Harvey delivered a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning to drive in Hunter Christian to get the Scots on the board.
In the fifth, Trevor Grapenthin continued his hot hitting with an RBI double to left field to tie the game at 2-2 before an Alex Gonzalez sacrifice fly scored Kenny Mills from third to give the Scots a 3-2 lead. In the sixth, Covenant took a 4-2 lead when an Averett error allowed Brooks DuBose to score.
Cline (2-0) found his groove over the final four innings of work, allowing just one hit over those innings. The right-hander went seven innings and scattered five hits, while tying his career-high with nine strikeouts. He threw 114 pitches in his outing.
Conor Austin came on in the eighth and worked the final two innings to pick up his second save of the year.
Harvey had three hits for Covenant, while Christian, Tyler Moore, DuBose, and Grapenthin all had one each.
Braxton Eades (0-2) got the loss for Averett after he went five innings and allowed one earned run. Chase McKinney and Cody Jones had two hits apiece for the Cougars.
GAME TWO: Covenant 9, Averett 3
Brooks DuBose had three hits and four RBIs to lead Covenant to a 9-3 win and a series sweep of Averett.
Covenant jumped on Averett (0-16, 0-9 USA South) with four runs in the first inning and two more in the second. DuBose played a role in both of those frames as he delivered a two-run single in the first and another two-run single in the second. The Scots also received RBI singles in the first from Ken Alexander and Mills.
Adam Carver went seven solid innings on the mound to notch the win. Carver (2-1) allowed eight hits and three runs with two strikeouts to collect his second win of the year. Jack Richards and Aaron Northcutt shut the door on the Cougars with two scoreless frames.
Covenant tacked on insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings. A passed ball in the sixth allowed Gonzalez to score, while it was a bases loaded walk by CJ Edmond and an RBI from Gonzalez that plated two runs in the seventh.
Mills went 3-for-5 to join DuBose with three hits in the game as the Scots racked up 14 hits. Gonzalez went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Ryan Traylor (0-4) was hit with the loss on the mound for Averett as he went 5.1 innings. McKinney had three hits and Tanner Bradshaw collected two as Averett had 10 hits in the game.