DANVILLE, Va. — Sophomore Dallas Smithers delivered a walk-off RBI single to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Averett University baseball team a 4-3 victory over Lynchburg College on Wednesday at Owen-Fulton Field. The victory gave the Cougars a sweep of the regular season series.

Senior Kyle Walsh walked to lead off the ninth and senior Drew Evans reached first base on a fielding error from the Hornets' pitcher. A muffed throw allowed junior Trey Wall to reach on a sacrifice bunt and Averett (18-16) had the bases loaded with no outs. The next at-bat for the Cougars ended with a strikeout to give Lynchburg (7-21) its first out of the frame. Not missing a beat, Smithers came up next and burned the Hornets' left fielder Thomas Powell with a fly ball to left to lift the Cougars to their third straight victory.

Lynchburg picked up three runs in the seventh to tie the game and set up the dramatic finish. The Hornets strung together a couple of base runners on a single to right-center and an Averett fielding error. After a strike out left the Hornets down to their final out in the frame, Nathan Sharp stepped up and drilled a three-run home run to left to knot the score at 3-3.

Despite the close finish, Averett never trailed in the contest. The Cougars used a Lynchburg throwing error to put up the first run of the game and senior Nic Futrell smacked an RBI single to right that made the score 2-0 after one inning.  Averett picked up a valuable insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Futrell scored on a double play ground out to the shortstop.

Junior Ramel Reynolds paced the Cougars with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, while Futrell collected a pair of hits on four at-bats. Smithers went 2-for-5 on the afternoon, including the game-winning knock for Averett.

Junior Daniel Elliott (2-2) picked up the win for Averett, striking out three in three innings of work. Junior left-hander Cody Johnson turned in another solid relief effort, surrendering only one hit and striking out three in the shutout performance. Smithers got the start for the Cougars and pitched shutout ball, while only allowing two hits and striking out five in three innings.

The Cougars swing back into action when they travel to Ferrum, Virginia, to take on Ferrum College on Friday in the first of a crucial three-game USA South Conference series. The first game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch.