The Alcovy Tigers pulled off a late-game comeback against Newton at home Wednesday. After being down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Tigers scored three runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning, winning the game 3-2.

“Our defense was key,” Alcovy Coach Ashley Senn said. “Monday, we kind of killed ourselves here, and we limited the errors (tonight). We made one or two, but it didn’t really hurt us, and we capitalized when they made mistakes there at the end. Monday, we didn’t.”

Both teams went scoreless through the first four innings of the game until momentum switched in Newton’s favor in the top of the fifth. A walk by Auliver Austin and a hit by Parker Kauffman got the ball rolling for the Rams, and the two scored consecutively to give Newton (10-8, 3-5 Region 2-AAAAAA) the 2-0 lead.

Both teams had one hit apiece in the sixth inning, but neither could pull of another run. Alcovy (5-12, 2-6 2-AAAAAA) played exceptional defense in the top of the seventh, with three quick outs to send the game to the bottom.

Despite a great pitching performance by senior Augustus Murray throughout the game, the Rams could not contain Alcovy in the final inning as two quick hits by Chandler White and Walker Edmonson, followed by a walk by Jacob Spivey pulled the Tigers back into the game. Murray registered his fourth strikeout of the game in the inning, but Alcovy came out on top to even the series 1-1.

“We didn’t hit the ball at all,” Newton coach Andre Byrd said. “We had two hits all game, and we made two runs, but it wasn’t enough. You’re not supposed to win the ball game with two hits, and eventually that’s what happened. We lost them in the bottom of the seventh. We hit the batter, and they got a couple hits. Bottom line, they won the game hitting the ball more than we did.”

Alcovy’s pitcher Blake Ernest was the X-factor in Monday’s game, also registering four strikeouts of his own.

“He was great,” Senn said of Ernest’s performance. “His curveball was working, and he stayed away from the hitters. I think only one guy hit him hard, and he only threw about 77 pitches. He was on.”

Alcovy will head back to Newton Friday for the final game in the series, which can have a major effect on regional seeding for each team.

“We just have to stay up,” Senn said. “It took us seven innings to get going here. We didn’t really do anything the whole game until the last inning, so we need to jump on them early Friday.”