DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University softball swept N.C. Wesleyan College to win its USA South Conference Tournament First Round best-of-three series on Friday afternoon at Cougar Field. Averett edged N.C. Wesleyan 3-1 in the opener and clinched the series with a 15-7 win in Game 2.

With the series win, Averett (16-20) advanced to the double-elimination portion of the USA South Tournament, which will begin Friday in LaGrange, Georgia.

Averett, the No. 3 seed in the East Division, broke a 1-1 tie in Game 1 by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Junior Andrea Grant blasted a two-out RBI double to left field to score freshman Ashley Carbajal for the go-ahead run. Freshman Makenzie Collins followed with an RBI double to left-center.

The Cougars held N.C. Wesleyan (21-15) in check over the final two innings, ending the game with Carbajal's diving grab up the middle for the final out.
Averett took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on sophomore Nicole Cauthen's RBI single through the right side, which scored Carbajal. However, N.C. Wesleyan tied it in the top of the second on Meredith Mize's RBI double to left.

???????Aherron (7-9) limited N.C. Wesleyan, the No. 4 seed in the East, to just three hits in the opener while striking out three for the win.

In Game 2, Averett had to hold off N.C. Wesleyan's late charge despite a strong start for the Cougars. Averett jumped on N.C. Wesleyan for eight runs in the top of the second inning. Aherron and senior Amanda Wright each drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the first two runs, and Cauthen followed with a two-run single through the right side to make it 4-0. Two N.C. Wesleyan errors sandwich another bases-loaded walk as the Cougars tacked on four more runs in the frame.
 
The Cougars added two more runs in the third on Wright's two-run single to left-center and one more in Aherron's RBI double in the fourth, giving Averett a commanding 11-0 lead.
 
The Battling Bishops, however, didn't go away. A bases-loaded walk, back-to-back wild pitches and an RBI single helped N.C. Wesleyan pull within 11-4 in the bottom of the fourth. The Bishops then trimmed the deficit to 11-7 with three runs in the fifth inning.
 
Averett added four runs in the top of the seventh to add some extra cushion.
 
Aherron went 4-for-5 at the plate in Game 2, while also finishing the game in the circle. Sophomore Taylor Bailey (5-7) got the win.