COVINGTON, Va. (WVDN)- The Covington Lumberjacks carried a lead into the fifth inning Wednesday night, but a pair of big innings by Harrisonburg proved costly as the Turks handed Covington a 9-5 loss at Casey Field.
Covington struck first in the second inning, plating two runs to take a 2-0 advantage. The Lumberjacks maintained that lead behind four scoreless innings from starter Luke Richards, who allowed just two hits while striking out four.
Harrisonburg broke through in the fifth, scoring four runs to move in front 4-3. Covington answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but the Turks delivered the decisive blow in the seventh. Harrisonburg pushed across four more runs to extend its lead to 8-4 and take control of the game.
The Turks added an insurance run in the eighth before the Lumberjacks scored once in the seventh and finished with five runs on nine hits.
Luis Acosta led the offense with two hits, a triple, one RBI and a run scored. Ray Yero added two hits, including a double, and scored a run. George Pardo Jr. also collected two hits and drew a walk.
Chris Carroll scored twice, drove in a run and stole two bases, while Grant Smith scored once and added an RBI. Frankie Clark contributed an RBI and drew two walks.
Richards turned in a solid start, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing two runs while issuing five walks. Robert Boing suffered the loss in relief after allowing five runs, four earned, over two innings. Eli Porter worked two innings, and Nelson Martinez tossed a scoreless ninth with one strikeout.
Harrisonburg finished with 10 hits while Covington recorded nine. Both teams committed two errors. Covington now sits at 1-3 early in the season and will now travel to Winchester tonight in hopes of picking up a win.
