ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Averett University softball lost a pair of non-conference games at N.C. Wesleyan University on Saturday as the Battling Bishops used big innings to secure victories in both games of the doubleheader. N.C. Wesleyan won 10-2 in five innings and 17-9 in five innings.
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In Game 2, N.C. Wesleyan (13-4) went up 1-0 in the first thanks to an RBI triple. However, the Cougars answered back with a big offensive output in the top of the second inning. Freshman
Kailey Gates tied it with an RBI single to left field. Sophomore
Angela Rodriguez gave Averett (3-9) a 2-1 advantage with here RBI single to center. Senior
Lauren Nelson then cleared the bases, smacking a three-run double to left field to push Averett's lead to 5-1.
N.C. Wesleyan tied it with a grand slam in the third, but once again Averett bounced back with a big inning of its own. Rodriguez knocked an RBI triple to left, and Nelson brought her home with an RBI single to left moments later. Junior
Taylor Sullivan then hit a sacrifice fly to score freshman
Abby Owen, giving the Cougars an 8-5 advantage.
The Bishops flipped the momentum in the bottom of the fourth that saw N.C. Wesleyan put up 12 runs in the frame thanks to eight hits and one error. Although Averett got one run back on Rodriguez's RBI single in the top of the fifth, it wasn't enough.
Rodriguez went 4-for-4 with three RBIs in Game 2 to lead the Cougars, who also got two hits each from freshman
Kailey Gates, Nelson and freshman
Mackenzi Luckenbaugh as part of their 12 hits. Nelson led the team with four RBIs.
In the opener, Averett jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Sullivan drove in senior
Karsin Lee with an RBI double to center for the first run, and sophomore
Salem Hill brought Sullivan home with an RBI single to center.
N.C. Wesleyan cut its deficit in half with Molly Alejandrino's solo homer in the second inning. In her next at-bat in the fourth, Alejandrino went yard again to tie the game, 2-2. That was the start of an eighth-run frame for the Battling Bishops, who surged ahead 9-2. N.C. Wesleyan got an RBI single in the fifth to extend its lead to eight runs, ending the game in the bottom of the fifth.
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Averett hosts Juniata College for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday.
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