DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University baseball team picked up a 12-5 and 7-6 walk-off doubleheader and series sweep against Mary Baldwin University in USA South Conference play on Sunday. 
 
Averett (8-17, 6-6 USA South) got the bats going early in game one on Sunday, scoring a run in the first inning on an RBI groundout by junior Brandon Hatcher to take an early 1-0 lead. Hatcher added another RBI on a sacrifice fly out in the second inning to further that Averett advantage to 3-0. 
 
Senior Ryan Traylor put the Cougars up 5-0 with a two RBI double in the third inning, but Mary Baldwin (0-12, 0-8 USA South) pulled within 5-3 of Averett with three runs in the fourth inning. 
 
The Cougars responded with three runs in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 8-5, scoring runs on a sacrifice fly out by junior Avery Spicer and RBI singles from Traylor and sophomore Nolan Maccabe. 
 
The Fighting Squirrels added a run in both the sixth and eighth innings to cut the deficit to 9-5, but Averett responded with three runs in the eighth to preserve the 12-5 win.
 
Sophomore Kyle Wilson plated the first run of the inning, followed by another sacrifice fly out from Spicer and Traylor's fourth RBI of the afternoon. 
 
Senior Tanner Bradshaw earned the win for the Cougars, pitching five solid innings, allowing seven hits and striking out three, while fellow senior Cole Spain dominated in one inning of work, striking out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning. 
 
Freshman Brandt Brophy finished an impressive 4-4 at the plate with four runs scored, while freshman Logan Albertson recorded a 3-5 performance, matching Traylor's 3-5 afternoon to go along with four RBI's. 
 
In game two of Sunday's doubleheader the Fighting Squirrels benefitted from two runs in the first inning, but Averett responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-2 edge. 
 
Two runs scoring off the bat of Brophy and another from Albertson after freshman Ryan Scheiderer was hit by a pitch with bases loaded for the first run. 
 
Mary Baldwin pulled back within 4-3 with a run in the fifth inning, but Averett responded with two runs in the sixth inning to increase its advantage to 6-3. 
 
Scoring a run following Hatcher's infield single and another following a Fighting Squirrels throwing error. 
 
However, that 6-3 margin was short lived as Mary Baldwin hit a two-run homerun in the seventh to pull within 6-5 and tied it with a run in the ninth. 
 
Bradshaw played the hero in game two though as he plated the winning run on a sacrifice fly out in the bottom of the inning to walk-off with the 7-6 win. 
 
Hatcher finished 3-5 at the plate in the second game, while Albertson contributed two hits. 
 
Spain recorded his 100th career strikeout in the win, while picking up the victory. 
 
Averett finished with 14 stolen bases on the afternoon and 23 for the series as the Cougars earned their first series sweep since the 2016 season. 
 
Additionally, the Cougars picked up their sixth conference victory breaking its previous high of five set under head coach Kenny Fleming back in 2019. 
 
The Cougars open a three-game conference series against N.C. Wesleyan College on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at noon.