DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University softball advanced in the USA South Conference Tournament with a pair of wins over East Division No. 5 seed Greensboro College on Saturday. The Cougars, the East Division No. 2 seed, beat Greensboro 10-5 in Game 1, then edged the Pride 4-3 in eight innings.
 
Averett (24-18) will battle West No. 3 seed Huntingdon College on Thursday at 10 a.m. as part of the double-elimination round of the tournament April 13-15 in LaGrange, Georgia. Huntingdon got past West No. 4 seed Covenant College 1-0 in eight innings Saturday to earn a 2-1 series victory in the best-of-three series.
 
Greensboro (21-17) looked poised to force a deciding Game 3 on Sunday as the Pride took a 3-1 lead into the top of the seventh inning. Junior Amanda Wright led off with a pinch-hit single through the left side. After a sacrifice bunt moved sophomore runner Essence Pulliam over to third, senior Jessica Long came to the plate. The two-time USA South Player of the Year proved why she is one of the most dangerous hitters in the country. Long crushed a ball over the left field fence to tie the game at 3-3, giving the Cougars life and shifting the momentum away from Greensboro.
 
After the Pride went scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, Averett got a leadoff double from sophomore Andrea Grant to start the eighth inning. With freshman Brianna Harris pinch-running at second, Greensboro induced a pair of pop-ups and it appeared the Pride might get out of the jam. However, freshman Nicole Cauthen smacked a ground ball up the middle to a diving Taylor Little at shortstop. Little fielded the ball and threw to first, but not in time to get Cauthen. Meanwhile, Harris hustled around third and scored on the play to put Averett ahead 4-3.
 
Although Greensboro got a leadoff single in the bottom of the eighth and moved the tying run into scoring position, Averett closed out the game with a pair of fly ball outs to center field.
 
Averett grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on Grant's sacrifice fly. However, Greensboro answered with three runs in the bottom half of the frame, including two thanks to three errors by the Cougars. That 3-1 advantage held up until Long's seventh-inning heroics.
 
Freshman Kaityln Aherron (11-8) notched her second win of the day by going the distance and striking out four while allowing just one earned run.
 
In the opener, Averett overcome a 3-1 deficit to roll past the Pride. After pulling within 3-2 in the fourth, the Cougars surged ahead with a three-run fifth inning. Senior Samantha Hall scored just under the tag on freshman Casey Cook's bunt attempt, tying the game. Then freshman Breanna Murphy unloaded a two-run double to right-center, putting Averett ahead 5-3.
 
Averett tacked on five more insurance runs in the sixth as the Cougars batted around. Long stretched a double into a leadoff triple and came home on Hall's single up the middle. Grant added an RBI double off the fence, Murphy drove in two with a single down the left field line and Long brought in the final run on a bases-loaded walk.
 
Greensboro loaded the bases and scored two unanswered runs in the top of the seventh on a dropped infield popup for the third out, but Averett escaped further damage by getting the final out on a rundown play.
 
The Pride inched ahead 1-0 in the first inning of the opener by piecing together three hits, including an RBI single by Kaylee Johnson. Although Averett tied it 1-1 on Hall's RBI single down the left field line, Greensboro regained a 3-1 lead on Taylor Little's two-run double to left-center.
 
Aherron pitched the final 3 2/3 innings in relief to earn the win. The USA South Rookie of the Year struck out six while allowing no earned runs.
 
Four Cougars notched multi-hit games in the opener, including Hall who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two runs batted in and three stolen bases. Long, Cook and Murphy also had two hits with Murphy driving in a team-high four runs.