Hawks open conference play with win over Covenant

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon built a six-run lead in the first four innings and picked up a 7-2 win against Covenant College on Friday.

Seven of the Hawks' starting nine recorded hits as Huntingdon (16-4) started 1-0 in the Great South Athletic Conference.

"We had 11 hits, we only struck out twice and we didn't have any errors. We left some runners on base, but I really don't have any major complaints," Huntingdon baseball coach D.J. Conville said. "We've still got room for improvement, but I liked what I saw tonight. We had balance throughout the lineup and we had a lot of different guys making plays.

"Now, we have to come back out on Saturday and be ready to do it again. Each new game is another opportunity for us to come out and work to improve."

Huntingdon and Covenant (7-7, 0-1 GSAC) play a doubleheader on Saturday. Game 1 is set for 1 p.m. at Posey Field.

John Rice (2-2) picked up the win for the Hawks on Friday, striking out five, walking one, allowing eight hits and one run in seven innings. Andre Glover took the loss for Covenant.

Jordan Freeman had two RBIs for the Hawks and Grant Brown, Joseph Odom, Evan Agnew and Cameron Lewis each had two hits. Brown also scored twice.

Huntingdon took a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Odom doubled off the left field fence to score Seth Currie. Odom later scored on a Covenant error. An Agnew single brought in Freeman for a 3-0 lead and a Lewis single scored Austin White for the fourth run.

In the fourth inning, Freeman doubled down the left field line to score Brown and Trey Smith. The Hawks added a final run in the sixth inning when Brown scored on a Smith triple.