Scots Rally to Take Nightcap 11-6
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Maryville reversed what could have been a tough start to its weekend with an 11-6 comeback victory over Covenant to earn a Friday split of its USA South doubleheader.
The Scots lost the opener 5-4 in 10 innings and then fell behind 3-0 in Game 2. But Maryville put four runs on the board in both the fourth and seventh innings to flip the script. The visiting Scots added three runs in the ninth for good measure to seal their 22nd victory of the season and improve to 7-4 in conference.
That is important because it keeps Maryville safely in third place in the Western Division. The top four make the postseason tournament, and Maryville leads fifth-place Covenant (6-8) by four games in the loss column.
These teams conclude the series Saturday in a 2 p.m. start.
"We just had to respond from Game 1," Maryville head coach Clint Helton said. "That was a tough loss. Bryce didn't have a good first inning, but he bounced back after that. I was happy with how the whole team responded and kept fighting."
Nearly Pulled It Out
Maryville dropped Game 1 by the slimmest of margins. Covenant's Joseph Ridenour with the bases loaded in the 10th inning grounded sharply to first base. Maryville's Christian Carlton knocked the ball down but could not recover in time to catch the speedy Josh Harvey at the plate for the 5-4 home team victory.
Trailing 3-0 through six innings, Maryville finally got on the board in the seventh with a single tally. But the visiting Scots just missed posting a bigger number.
Zac Graham with the bases loaded and one out flied to the fence in the right center field, settling for a sac fly but just missing a grand slam. And then Covenant's Kenny Mills robbed Carlton of a sure two-run double with a sliding catch in left center to end the inning and keep the hometown Scots in front 3-1.
In the eighth with the score 4-1, Gabe Lopez with the bases loaded delivered a two-run, two-out single to right. When the throw home bounced away from Covenant catcher Harvey, Maryville's Ian Campbell tried to score a third run on the play only to have Harvey recover the ball and just beat Campbell to the plate for the third out.
Covenant retained its 4-3 lead.
But not for long, as Nelson Smith homered on the first pitch of the ninth inning from Covenant reliever Conor Austin to tie it 4-4. Austin then retired the next six batters he faced to set the stage for Covenant's winning rally.
Graham Gets It Going
In Game 2, Graham's long home run to left center narrowed the early Covenant lead to 3-1. Three more runs crossed in the inning, capped by Kendall Catlett's RBI-single to left for a 4-3 Maryville advantage.
Maryville widened its lead in the seventh. Smith belted an RBI-single to left and then Carlton singled to right to score a pair. Max Bowers finished the frame with a run-scoring hit to center that made it 8-3.
Covenant scored twice in the seventh and once in the eighth to pull within 8-6, but a home side throwing error followed by a pair of sacrifice flies off the bats of Bowers and Zach Fritts iced it.
Nic Mirabella earned his third win in a row to improve to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in conference. He scattered five runs on six hits over his six-plus innings. Grady Cash pitched the final two innings for his fourth save.
"Nic kept us in the game," Helton said. "He had a few spots where his command wasn't great, but he kept competing and gave us a chance to put up some big innings. And that's what we did.
"We struggled early in both games, but once we get it going it starts rolling over to the next guy. We just kept competing."
