ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Ferrum College defeated Averett University softball twice on Sunday to win the USA South Conference Tournament championship held at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex. The No. 5 seed Panthers held off No. 4 seed Averett 3-2 to force a winner-takes-all game, which Ferrum also won 10-1 in five innings.

Ferrum (25-16), which lost its opening game of the double-elimination tournament 3-2 to Averett (25-17) on Friday, battled back from the loser's bracket to make the championship. The Panthers knocked off Maryville College 5-1 early Sunday morning to set up the rematch with Averett.

Ferrum's momentum from its win over the Scots earlier in the day carried over in the first game against Averett. The Panthers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning on back-to-back RBI hits. The Panthers added an insurance run thanks to an unlucky bounce in the fourth inning. Heather Mayberry hit what would have been a single up the middle, but the ball hit the lip of the outfield grass, took a crazy hop and ended up all the way at the fence, which allowed Mayberry to come around for an inside-the-park home run.

Averett got one of the runs back in the top of the sixth on senior Jessica Griffin's RBI double down the left field line, which scored senior Taylor Dix.

The Cougars nearly tied it up in the top of the seventh with a two-out rally. Sophomore Amanda Wright opened the frame with a single before Ferrum got two consecutive outs. Junior Jessica Long singled home freshman pinch runner Brooke Cassada to cut the Panthers' lead to 3-2. Dix followed with a double, putting the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second base. Ferrum walked senior Mary Beth Smith to load the bases, but pitcher Courtney Rudd induced a groundout to third base to end the game and force a deciding second game.

Ferrum continued to ride its momentum at the plate. Tournament MVP Cheyenne Strickland's three-run homer in the third was the start of an eight-run inning for the Panthers. Ferrum added two more runs the following inning to take a commanding 10-0 lead.

Averett's lone run came on senior Rhyan Scearce's RBI single to right in the bottom of the fourth. The Cougars got two aboard in the fifth, but were unable to get them in and the game ended after five innings due to the eight-run rule.

Smith, Griffin and freshman Andrea Grant earned USA South All-Tournament Team honors for Averett.

The heartbreaking losses stung for the Cougars, who only needed one win on Sunday to take the championship and earn a second consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. Averett was the last remaining undefeated team in the tournament after beating Ferrum, top-seed Piedmont College and No. 2 seed Maryville College over the first two days to reach the championship.