Demorest, GA- The Piedmont College baseball team fell in the first game of a three-game series to visiting Covenant College 9-2 Friday night at Loudermilk Field.
The Lions scattered six hits only picking up one hit each inning while the Scots tallied 11 hits throughout the game. Piedmont was able to get runners on base, but were not able to capitalize on their opportunities stranding nine on the basepaths.
Junior MICHAEL BARNES went 2-for-3 with an RBI on the day while WILL SKIDMORE advanced his 2-hit per-game streak to seven games running going 2-for-4 on the day.
Covenant’s Garret Kriston went seven innings strong picking up his second win of the season, while giving up only one run. Kriston fanned seven on the night, which tied Piedmont’s starter CHRIS GOERSHEL (2-1) whose last seven strikeout affair came on March 23 of 2013 against Ferrum College. Goershel would pick up the win that day throwing 8 innings and giving up one run.
Both starters are tied for first in the USA South Athletic Conference in strikeouts sitting down 17 batters apiece. The pair sit four strikeouts ahead of Jackson Cruce from Huntingdon College.
The Lions would get on the board first in the bottom half of the opening inning on a Barnes single marking his 5th RBI of the 2015 season. Barnes currently sits second on the team in batting average posting a .385 average.
Leading the Lions in batting average is the junior sensation Skidmore who currently sits at .571. Skidmore leads the USA South Athletic Conference in batting average passing Convenant’s Scott Gillespie (.545) tonight who was held to an 0-3 showing by the Piedmont pitching staff.
Piedmont moves to 5-2 on the season and 5-2 in the USA South after tonight’s loss. Covenant moves to 6-1 on the season and 3-1 in the USA South. The two teams will square off in a double-header tomorrow to finish the series.
Tomorrow’s double header is set to start at 1 p.m. and the second game will follow the completion of the first. Live coverage wil be provided by the Mane Event Broadcasting Network accompanied with live stats and audio.
For more information on the Piedmont baseball program, follow Piedmont on Twitter (@PCLionsBaseball or @PiedmontLions), like the Lions on Facebook (facebook.com/PiedmontCollegeLions or facebook.com/PiedmontBaseball), or sign up for the Lions’ Roar text-messaging score & news alerts through the “All-Access” pulldown menu on the main page at PiedmontLions.com.
