DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University baseball team dropped both games of its USA South Conference doubleheader against Methodist University by finals of 4-1 and 9-3 on Saturday.
Averett (0-12, 0-6 USA South) struck first in Game 1 on Saturday when senior
Zack DeCarlo made a heads up base running play, scoring on senior
Chase McKinney's sacrifice pop up to second base to give the Cougars a 1-0 advantage.
Freshman starter
Tyler Nuckols maintained that lead until the top half of the seventh inning when Methodist snuck ahead 3-1 after three runs in the inning.
Methodist (10-4, 3-0 USA South) added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to hang on for the 4-1 victory.
Nuckols pitched well for the Cougars going six and 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, striking out three and allowing only one earned run.
Offensively, senior
Andrew Lancaster led the charge, finishing with three hits on the opener, while sophomore
Brandon Hatcher added two hits and freshman
Kyle Wilson collected his first collegiate hit.
The Monarchs bats came alive in Game 2, recording 16 hits in the series finale, collecting three in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Methodist added two insurance runs in the fifth inning, along with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take a commanding 7-0 advantage.
However, the Cougars got on the board in the bottom of the seventh when sophomore
Nate Tuck reached on an RBI fielders choice that scored freshman
Justin Murphy.
Tuck later came around to score Averett's second run when junior
Tanner Bradshaw singled through the left side.
Methodist added two more runs in the top of the ninth inning to ahead 9-2, however, the Cougars didn't go down quietly in the final three outs as Lancaster singled up the middle to score McKinney, but the damage had been done as the Monarchs held on for the 9-3 victory.
Bradshaw finished with two of the Cougars 10 hits in the contest, while sophomore
Jason Maggs also added two hits.
Averett returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Lynchburg, Virginia for a 2 p.m. meeting with the University of Lynchburg.
