COVINGTON – Covington faced Troy Christian for the third time this season and captured a 23-1 victory in five innings in the opening round of the sectional tournament.

The Lady Buccs host Legacy Christian on Thursday in the second round.

Covington took a 2-0 lead after one, but Troy Christian was able to cut the Lady Buccs’ advantage to 2-1 by plating a run in the top of the second.

The Lady Buccs broke the game open in the bottom half of the second inning by plating seven runs. The big hit came on a home run by Maggie Anderson, her second home run in consecutive games.

Nigella Reck followed with a home run in the bottom of the third to ignite a nine-run inning to push Covington’s lead to 18-1. The dinger was the 15th home run for Reck on the season.

Covington continued with its hot hitting streak in the bottom of the fourth by scoring five more runs and then ended the game in the top of the fifth by holding Troy Christian scoreless in the inning.

Overall, Covington tallied 25 hits and didn’t commit a single error in the game, while Troy Christian had three hits and four errors.

Karyanne Turner went 4-for-4 with 2 RBI, while Kamryn Barnes went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI to lead the Lady Buccs in hits. Maggie Anderson had three hits – one being a home run – scored thee times and drove in three runs. Mara Newhouse also had three hits and scored twice, while Erika Gostomsky had three hits, scored three times and drove in a run. Reaghan Lemp and Nigella Reck tallied two hits each with Reck hitting a home run, driving in four runs and scoring twice, while Lemp drove in two runs and scored once.

Also recording hits for Covington were Meg Rogers, Emma Ouellette, Elizabeth Coblentz and Jayda McClure.

Meg Rogers threw the first three innings and Erika Gostomsky tossed the final two innings. The duo combined for five strikeouts and no walks.

Covington improves its overall record to 23-4 on the season.