Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Lookout Mountain, GA - The Piedmont College baseball team finished their three-game series with Covenant College earlier today dropping both games in a doubleheader as the Lions now sit at 5-4 in USA South action after the weekend.  Early offense helped Covenant take game one 11-8 before the Scots posted an 8-3 win in the second game sweeping all three from the Lions this weekend.

In game one, PC faced a big deficit right from the start as junior Chris Goershel struggled to get out of the bottom of the first as he walked the leadoff batter K.C. Simons who would be tripled in by the next Covenant batter to put CC up 1-0.  After Goershel was able to get a pair of outs looking like he may limit the damage, the Scots tallied four of their five runs in the 1st on two outs as the Scots would take a 5-0 lead after just one inning stunning the Lions who fell in walkoff fashion to the boys in blue the day before.

Neither team would score for the next four innings as Piedmont cut into the margin with a pair in the sixth as Josh Bailey singled in Keith Grabowski after the Piedmont centerfielder had tripled to put himself in scoring position.  For Grabowski, the triple is his third of the season, tied for second-most in the USA South behind leader Will Cleland of Covenant.  

Trailing 6-2 after Covenant added a score in the bottom of the 6th, Piedmont had its biggest inning of the day when the Lions scored three in the top of the 7th to cut the lead down to just a single run.  The inning was capped by a Grabowski single to right as he went three for four with two RBIs and a run scored in the first game of the DH.  

However, Covenant had an answer tallying four in the bottom of the same inning to once again lead big taking a 10-5 margin after seven complete having pushed the Piedmont starter Goershel out by that point.  PC refused to go quietly scoring three in the 8th with two outs as a Daniel Lindsey single scored Bailey from third, though the Lions would have more chances to cut into the lead after that.

Two more runs would score later in the inning as a bases loaded single by Will Skidmore preceded a hit-by-pitch on Grabowski as the bags were full of Lions who trailed just 10-8 by that point.  However, the luck ran out for PC as they left three stranded and trailed by two heading to the bottom of the 8th.  

Another run from Covenant in the bottom of the 8th would be insurance as the Lions had another chance in the top of the 9th to rally getting a pair of runners aboard after a two-out single from Lindsey kept it alive and brought the tying run to the plate.  However, the Scots caught freshman Terrance Worthy in a rundown to end the inning and end the game with an 11-8 win as the Lions dropped the first game of the day.

In game two, the Lions again trailed early as the Scots managed to get a pair of scores in the bottom of the first, getting them this time off a freshman starter on the hill for PC, Preston Graham.  Graham went four innings giving up seven runs on seven hits to pick up the loss moving to 3-3 on the season though only four of his seven given up were earned as Piedmont committed five errors in the second game today.

PC got two back in the top of the third to tie things up at 2-2, but a Covenant run in the bottom of the inning and four more in the 4th made the lead now 7-2 for the hosting Scots who were looking to lock up a three-game sweep of PC with the win.  Piedmont would be unable to keep up offensively and struggled to keep runs off the board defensively as five PC errors led to four unearned runs in game two.

Covenant would take the second of the doubleheader by the final score of 8-3 as the Lions could not overcome the defensive miscues despite only being outhit 11-10 in the second game.  

With the two losses, Piedmont moves to 12-6 overall and drops to 5-4 in league play, 3.5 behind a pair of league leaders in 9-1 Huntingdon and Ferrum.  Despite trailing the Hawks of Huntingdon who hold one of those first place spots in the standings prior to a doubleheader with Greensboro this weekend, PC hosts HC next weekend in their next competition on the diamond.

That series with Huntingdon starts on Friday, March 21st with game time slated for 7:00 pm under the lights at Loudermilk Field.  All action on the weekend will be carried live on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network which features integrated live stats with a live video feed as well.