DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University baseball lost to Emory & Henry College 11-5 Monday afternoon at Owen-Fulton Field.
 
Trailing 8-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Averett (8-5) scored two runs to cut Emory & Henry's deficit down to four. After a single and a double put runners on second and third base, freshman Kyle Vidano knocked an RBI single to short and sophomore Hunter Ashworth's grounder to short scored sophomore Trey Wall, closing the gap to four. Emory & Henry (2-6), however, answered back in the top of the eighth with three runs to extend its lead to seven.  Averett tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 11-5, but that's as close as the Cougars would get.
 
Emory & Henry jumped on top of the Cougars early, posting three runs in the top of the first.  An RBI double to center field by Brandon Line put the Wasps on the board and a Carson Bryan two-run blast to left field allowed Emory & Henry to take a early three run lead. The Cougars answered with back a run of their own in the bottom of the first. Vidano led things off with a single and advanced to third on a throwing error from the Wasps' right fielder. Two batters later, Vidano came home on a wild pitch, allowing Averett to cut Emory & Henry's lead in half.
 
The Wasps, though, scored five runs in the fifth to break the game open.  An RBI single by Bransen Chiri pushed Emory & Henry's lead back to three and a two-run homer by Line gave the Wasps a 6-1 lead.
 
Vidano had another impressive day at the plate, going 3-for-5, while driving in a run. Ashworth added two hits and an RBI for Averett and senior Nic Futrell chipped in with two hits and drove in a run on the afternoon.
 
Senior Greg Hess pitched well in one inning of relief, not surrendering a hit, while recording a strikeout.
 
The Cougars return to action when on Thursday when they host Marymount University at 2 p.m. at Owen-Fulton Field.