RALEIGH, N.C. — Averett University softball held off Meredith College 6-4 in eight innings to earn a series split after a heartbreaking 6-5 loss in 11 innings earlier in the day Wednesday.
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In Game 2, Averett (18-14, 9-9 USA South) opened with a 1-0 lead in the first on senior
Hannah Thompson's RBI single. Senior
Anna Coleman drove in two more runs in the top of the third with her single to left field. She later scored on a throwing error to give the Cougars a 4-0 advantage.
Meredith (20-12, 9-7 USA South) answered with two runs in the sixth to cut its deficit in half. The Avenging Angels then smacked a game-tying two-run double with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings for the second consecutive game.
In Averett's half of the eighth inning, Thompson crushed a two-out, two-run double down the left field line to surge the Cougars in front 6-4. Averett then silenced Meredith in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win.
Sophomore right-hander
Taylor Sullivan (11-5) earned the win in the circle. Offensively, Averett was limited to four hits, including two by Thompson.
In Game 1, Averett also opened with a first-inning lead on Coleman's solo homer to left. Down 1-0, Meredith tied it on a sacrifice fly in the third.
Averett answered in the top of the fourth inning when freshman
Peyton Lowery singled down the right field line, scoring Thompson and Coleman to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead. Meredith again responded with a two-run single to tie it in the fifth.
In extra innings, Averett inched ahead 4-3 in the top of the eighth on freshman
Angela Rodriguez's RBI single, but Meredith got a sacrifice fly to tie it, 4-4, and continue the game. In the ninth, junior
Emily Fugate's RBI double put the Cougars in front, only to have Meredith score in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single.
Still tied 5-5 in the 11th, Meredith got the walk-off RBI single to win it.
Averett had 10 hits in the opening game, including a 4-for-5 day from Thompson and a 3-for-4 effort from Coleman.
The doubleheader concluded Averett's regular season. The Cougars must wait to see how the rest of the results around the USA South Conference play out through Saturday to see if they will finish in the top five of the East Division to qualify for the conference tournament.
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