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LAGRANGE, Ga. — Senior Jessica Long's bases-loaded, walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth lifted Averett University softball to a 6-5 win over Maryville College to keep the Cougars unbeaten on the opening day of the USA South Conference Tournament on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Averett pulled away from Huntingdon College for a 7-2 victory to open the double-elimination round of the tournament held at the Shuford Softball Complex.
 
With the Averett (26-18), the No. 2 seed in the East Division, advanced in the winner's bracket to play East No. 3 seed Ferrum College on Friday at noon.

The Cougars needed extra innings to get past Maryville (20-18) after the Scots rallied from an early hole. Averett went ahead 1-0 in the first on sophomore Andrea Grant's sacrifice fly, and it added two more runs in the second inning on senior Samantha Hall's single to left field. The Cougars made it 4-0 in the third after freshman Casey Cook scored thanks to a Maryville error.

The Scots began their comeback in the sixth inning by scoring three runs on three hits and two errors to close the gap to 4-3. Maryville then took its first lead, 5-4, in the top of the seventh. Jenna Roberts drove in the tying run with an RBI single to right. Roberts then stole second and came around to score the go-ahead run on an errant throw on the steal attempt.
 
Averett forced extra innings thanks to freshman Nicole Cauthen's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, which tied the game at 5-5. Averett had a chance to win in regulation. The Cougars had the bases loaded with just one out, but Maryville escaped without further trouble.

The Cougars made their move in the ninth. Freshman Breanna Murphy and Cauthen led off the frame with back-to-back singles, and the Scots hit sophomore Essence Pulliam was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. After a strikeout for the first out, Long drove a pitch into center to score Murphy with the winning run and keep Averett as one of the two unbeaten teams after the first day of play at the tournament.

Cauthen finished with a 4-for-5 effort at the plate, and freshman Mallory Griffith had two hits for the Cougars, who totaled 13 hits.

Freshman Kaitlyn Aherron (13-8) earned the win in relief, pitching the final three innings.

To open the tournament Thursday morning, Averett took the early 2-0 lead over Huntingdon in the first inning thanks to a great start. Long and Hall each singled to lead off the frame. Long came home on a groundout, and Grant singled home Hall to give the Cougars a two-run advantage. 

Huntingdon (17-25) cut its deficit to 2-1 in the third on Samara Miller's RBI single, but Averett answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with Grant's RBI single to center field. Once again, Huntingdon got back within one on Lindsey Selph's inside-the-park home run in the fourth.
 
Ahead 3-2, Averett began to distance itself from the Hawks in the bottom of the sixth. Grant led off the inning with a double, and freshman pinch-runner Brianna Harris scored on Murphy's RBI double. Murphy later scored on an error to make it 5-2. The Cougars added two more runs on an RBI single by Pulliam and an RBI triple by Long.
 
Huntingdon threatened in the seventh by loading the bases, but Aherron struck out the final batter to end it. Aherron finished with six strikeouts over seven innings.
 
Averett finished with nine hits, including a 3-for-3 performance by Grant. Long and Pulliam also had multi-hit games.