RALEIGH, N.C. — Freshman Zamyiah Mangum's sacrifice fly scored freshman Hannah Thompson in the bottom of the the 10th to lift Averett University softball past William Peace University 6-5 in a resumed Game 2 of the best-of-three USA South Conference Tournament First Round on Saturday. With the win, the Cougars won the series and advanced to the double elimination portion of the conference tournament, which begins April 26 in LaGrange, Georgia.

Averett (27-14), the No. 5 seed out of the East Division, won Game 1 on Thursday with a 4-2 victory over the East No. 2 seed William Peace (15-19). However, Game 2 went into extra innings and couldn't be completed that evening due to darkness when the two teams were tied 5-5 through nine innings. 

Play resumed on Saturday with William Peace at the plate to start the top of the 10th inning. Olivia Oates reached on an error to lead off the inning and advanced to third with two outs following a sacrifice bunt and an infield groundout. However, the Pacers couldn't get Oates home as Thompson induced an inning-ending groundout.

In the bottom of the 10th, Thompson was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame for the Cougars. As Averett successfully put down a sacrifice bunt, Thompson advanced all the way to third base from first on the play to put the winning run in scoring position. William Peace elected to intentionally walk juniors Brianna Harris and Nicole Cauthen to load the bases with one out. That set up Mangum's heroic opportunity. The freshman lifted a fly ball to center field that allowed Thompson to score from third with the winning run.

Thompson (15-4) earned the win in relief, pitching three innings while allowing only two hits over the combined two days of Game 2. Thompson also finished with a pair of hits.

When Game 2 began on Thursday, William Peace grabbed the upper hand at the start as the Pacers hit a grand slam in the top of the first to take a 4-0 lead.

Although it missed out on several scoring opportunities, Averett fought back to tie the game late.Junior Casey Cook made it 4-1 when she scored on an error on junior Kaitlyn Aherron's steal of second base in the third. Another William Peace error in the fourth allowed the Cougars to get within 4-2. Then Averett knotted the game, 4-4, in the fifth on Cauthen's RBI single and freshman Kaity Sullivan's bases-loaded walk.

William Peace loaded the bases with only one out in the top of the seventh. Although the Cougars walked in the go-ahead run to put the Pacers ahead, Averett got out of the inning with a forceout at home and a strikeout to remain down by only one run. That proved to be crucial as the Cougars loaded the bases themselves in the bottom of the seventh, and Cook drew a game-tying, bases-loaded walk to extend the game into extra innings.

Averett the got potential game-winning runs into scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings before William Peace worked out of the jams. However, at the time, play couldn't resume as darkness set in, forcing the game to be suspended until Saturday, when play could resume.

The Cougars await the winner of the Huntingdon College-LaGrange College series, which was going to a decisive Game 3 on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars' first game in LaGrange will be at 10 a.m.