DANVILLE, Va. — Sophomore Chloe Horton's double to the wall in center field scored freshman Angela Rodriguez to give Averett University softball a thrilling 3-2 walk-off win over William Peace University in Game 1 of their conference doubleheader Friday at Cougar Field. The Pacers, however, rallied in the top of the seventh of Game 2 for a 3-2 win to avoid a sweep.

In the opener, Averett (3-5, 1-1 USA South) had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit early on after giving up a pair of RBI hits to William Peace (12-5, 1-1 USA South) in the third. The Cougars trimmed that margin in half with senior Hannah Thompson's solo homer off the scoreboard in the fourth inning to get Averett within 2-1. Thompson then helped tie it up in the sixth with her RBI double that scored senior Anna Coleman from first base to set up the dramatic finish.

After Averett got out of a jam in the top half of the seventh, Rodriguez reached on a fielding error with one out, giving the Cougars life. After a flyout, Horton crushed a ball over the center fielder's head, allowing Rodriguez to score all the way from first base to lift Averett in Game 1.
 
Horton went 3-for-4, while Thompson was 2-for-3 as the two combined for five of Averett's eight hits. Thompson (1-3) also got the win in the circle, striking out six while allowing just two runs on five hits and three walks.
 
Averett looked poised to sweep William Peace. Rodriguez's RBI single put the Cougars ahead 1-0 in the second inning, and Rodriguez later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 Averett.
William Peace pulled within one on an RBI grounding in the fifth, then got a huge defensive stop in the bottom of the sixth as left fielder Candice Smith threw out a runner at home — she also threw out a runner in the first inning at home — to keep Averett from adding to its lead. That proved to be crucial as the Pacers got a sacrifice fly to tie the game and an RBI single to go in front 3-2 in the top of the seventh inning.

Averett threatened in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff single, but a double play erased the runner. The Cougars answered again with another single before William Peace induced a hard lineout to third to end the game and escape with a win in Game 2.

Coleman and Rodriguez both had a pair of hits in the Game 2 for the Cougars.
 
Averett is scheduled to host Shenandoah University at 1 p.m. Saturday.


 
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