DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University baseball team fell 8-2 to N.C. Wesleyan College on Friday in its USA South Conference opener at Owen-Fulton Field.

Senior right-hander T.J. Viracola kept N.C. Wesleyan (9-3, 1-0 USA South) off the board for the first three innings as Averett (2-5, 0-1 USA South) took a 1-0 lead into the fourth frame. However, the Battling Bishops' bats came alive and they used three consecutive RBI singles to establish a two-run advantage at 3-1. N.C. Wesleyan added two more insurance runs in its half of the fifth to take a 5-1 lead.

The Cougars answered back in the bottom of the fifth to get within three. Freshman Ross Jackson kicked things off with a double to center field. Jackson advanced to third on junior Hunter Ashworth's groundout and later came home to score on senior Drew Evans' single through the left side that made it 5-2.

Neither team was able to strike again until the top of the eighth when the Battling Bishops broke the game open with a three-run frame. Tony Sanchez's RBI double to right made it a four-run game, and N.C. Wesleyan increased its lead to five on an RBI sacrifice fly to center. The Battling Bishops rounded out the scoring when Justin DiSanto recorded an RBI single through the right side that made it 8-2 late in the game.

Averett jumped on top of N.C. Wesleyan in its first at bat to take an early lead. Sophomore Dallas Smithers led off with a single through the left side and senior Billy McLaughlin followed with a single to left to put runners on the corners. One batter later, the Cougars gained a 1-0 edge when Smithers came home on a ground out double play.

The Cougars take the field tomorrow as they host the Battling Bishops in the second of a three-game conference series at 1 p.m. on Owen-Fulton Field.