WILMORE, Ky. — Asbury baseball (5-12, 0-1 CCS) scored eight runs in the sixth inning to gain a 11-6 lead and freshman Edison Burke tallied his first two career homeruns, but a late Covenant (8-8, 1-0 CCS) rally propelled the Scots past the Eagles in 10 innings, 12-11.
Asbury erupted for an eight-run sixth inning and built an 11-6 lead, but Covenant answered with a late surge and a go-ahead home run in the 10th to hand the Eagles a 12-11 extra-innings loss Friday afternoon in both teams Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) opener.
Down 6-3 entering the bottom of the sixth, Asbury's offense flipped the game with its biggest inning of the day. Edison Burke ignited the rally with his second home run of the game, a solo blast to right that trimmed the deficit.
Later in the frame, Cam Weaver laced a two-run double to right that pushed Asbury in front and continued the high-powered inning. Andrew Billington added another two-RBI double before the inning was over, completing an eight-run frame that turned a three-run deficit into an 11-6 advantage.
Burke and Billington headlined an efficient Asbury lineup that produced 11 runs on 10 hits while stranding only three runners. Burke finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, three RBIs and his first career two home runs.
Billington chipped in two hits, two runs scored, two RBI's, a double and two stolen bases. Asbury also got an early jolt in the first when Burke's solo homer tied the game 1-1 and Aaron Beaman followed with a two-run shot to center to give the Eagles a 3-1 cushion.
Covenant, however, never stopped chipping away. The visitors scored single runs in each of the first six innings to build a 6-3 lead, including an RBI double from Ryan MacLellan in the fourth and an RBI double from Sam Cecil in the sixth.
After Asbury's explosive sixth, Covenant answered immediately in the seventh, using the long ball to climb back into the game. MacLellan delivered a three-run homer to right to cut the margin to 11-9, and McClarnon followed with a solo shot to bring Covenant within one.
Covenant pulled even in the eighth when Elliott Eastin reached on a fielding error that allowed the tying run to score, making it 11-11. Asbury's pitching staff and defense then managed to keep the game tied into extra innings despite Covenant's 18-hit attack, but the Eagles could not push across a winning run over their final four trips to the plate.
McClarnon, who had already produced a sacrifice fly and a seventh-inning homer, stepped up again in the 10th and drove a solo home run to right, providing the final 12-11 margin.
Offensively, Asbury matched Covenant in power, finishing with three home runs, three doubles and three stolen bases.
On the mound, Ryan Yates tallied six innings, striking out four. Junior Brady Robeson was one of three Eagles that pitched in relief, throwing two innings allowing zero earned runs.
AU looks to bounce back tomorrow, March 14th at 12 and 3:30 PM against the Scots.
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Edison Burke | 3 H, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR (First Career)
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Andrew Billington | 2 H, 2 RBI, 2 R
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Aaron Beaman | HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB
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Cam Weaver | H, 2 RBI, R
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Ryan Yates | 6 IP, 4 K
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Brady Robeson | 2 IP, 0 ER
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