MAY 11, 2010 - TROY
The Covington Lady Buccs geared up for tournament play by traveling to Troy to take on a solid Division I program in the Lady Trojans.

And despite dropping a 3-1 contest, Covington is primed for the sectional tournament, which begins Thursday against long-time rival Bradford. The Railroaders earned their crack at Covington with a 10-5 victory over National Trail tonight.

It was a pitching and defensive battle tonight against the Trojans as neither team could score until Troy manufactured a run in the bottom of the third.

Covington responded in the top of the fourth as Hannah Pond wrapped an RBI double, but was injured sliding into third base as she attempted to stretch the hit into a triple. As a precautionary measure, Pond sat out the rest of the contest.

Troy, coached by Dan Cain, the father of Lady Bucc first baseman Aubrye Cain, played a little small ball in the bottom of the fifth inning to manufacture two more runs.

After the leadoff batter reach on a passed ball on the third strike, the Lady trojans used two more passed balls to eventually score the two runs it needed to stretch the lead to 3-1.

Covington put two runners on base in the top of the sixth, but couldn't take advantage of the opportunity to cut into the margin.

Troy shut down the order in the top of the seventh to preserve the victory and hand Covington its fifth loss of the season.

Halley Roberts threw well for Covington, pitching into the fifth before being replaced by Chloe Shell.

Recording big hits for Covington were Hannah Pand - with the RBI double - and freshman Casey Yingst, who wrapped two singles. Sarah Westfall, Connor Schaffer and Heidi Snipes also connected for hits.

The loss ends Covington's regular season at 20-5. The Lady Buccs look to defend the top seed in the sectional tournament Thursday night against Bradford. Covington defeated Bradford 9-2 on April 22nd.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Covington ......0....0....0...1...0...0...0 - 1
Troy ..............0....0....1...0...2...0...x - 3