The Covenant softball team's pitching allowed just one run in two games and Jordan Brett hit a home run in each game to lead the Lady Scots to a doubleheader sweep at Sewanee in non-conference play on Wednesday. Covenant won the first game 2-0 before taking game two 6-1.
The wins give Covenant 20 on the year as the Lady Scots move to 20-12 overall. It marks just the third 20-win season in program history, and the first since 2012.
Brett not only hit two home runs but also extended her hitting streak to 12 games.
Brett has at least one hit in 25 of the last 27 games overall and pushed her batting average to .443 on the year, fourth-best in the USA South.
GAME ONE: Covenant 2, Sewanee 0
Cris Gant and Joni Johnson combined to throw a one-hitter and Brett provided the offense with a two-run homer in the fifth inning giving Covenant a 2-0 win.
As a team, Covenant carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Sewanee's Rachel Hoffman led off the frame with a single. Gant (4-5) made the start and tossed four scoreless innings and struck out six without allowing a hit. Johnson came on for the final three innings to record her fourth save of the year.
The score remained scoreless until the fifth. Jami Johnson led off with a single and Brett came on as a pinch-hitter. The senior blasted a two-run homer, her seventh of the year, giving Covenant a 2-0 lead. The Lady Scots would get a runner in scoring position later in the fifth and also in the sixth and seventh innings but would not be able to add to the lead.
Shannon Schmitt went 3-for-4 to lead the eight-hit attack for Covenant. Kaitlyn Sirmons, Shade Epes, Gant and Brett all had a hit apiece. Megan Wardlaw drew two walks.
Sydney Leibfritz (1-15) got the loss after going all seven innings allowing two runs on eight hits in the circle for the host Tigers.
GAME TWO: Covenant 6, Sewanee 1
The bats awoke for Covenant in game two and the pitching remained strong as Covenant completed the doubleheader sweep with a 6-1 win in the finale.
Covenant struck first with a run in the second on a Sirmons RBI fielder's choice that scored Erika Mast to make it 1-0. In the third, Mast produced a two-run single that plated Schmitt and Brett to give the Lady Scots a 3-0 lead. Later in the inning, a Sewanee error allowed another run to come across as Covenant grabbed a 4-0 lead.
Brett would hit her second homer of the day, another two-run shot, in the fourth to make it 6-0. The homer was Brett's eighth of the year.
Carsyn Stone and Tyler Epes each threw three innings in the six-inning affair. Stone (7-5) got the win as she allowed two hits with four strikeouts in her start, while Epes got the save and surrendered just two hits.
Mast went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Brett and Madalyn Ames each had two hits as Covenant had 12 as a team. Joni Johnson, Hannah Talley, Schmitt, Casey Grover and Sirmons all had one hit each.
Caroline Sweetin went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Sewanee, while Miranda Townsend got the pitching loss.
UP NEXT
Covenant travels to Winston-Salem, N.C., on Thursday to play USA South foe Salem. The doubleheader begins at 4 p.m.