DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University baseball fell to Roanoke College 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Owen-Fulton Field.

Averett (3-13-1, 0-5 ODAC) was down 3-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, sophomore Kevin Zischke gave some life to the Cougar offense after he slapped a single up the middle. Sophomore Nick Romano capitalized when he smoked a double down the left field line to advance Zischke to third base. Following a wild pitch, Zischke scored and Romano advanced to third. Sophomore Tyler Wilson cut down the Maroon lead to 3-2 after he singled through the left side to score Romano from third.

After Roanoke (11-8, 4-1 ODAC) scored a run in the eighth and ninth innings to increase its lead to 5-2, Averett brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. However, Roanoke was able to escape with the conference win even though the Cougars outhit Roanoke.

Roanoke struck first in the top of the first inning. With two runners on, a single through the left side put the Maroons up 1-0. Averett's defense held the Maroons to a 1-0 lead and just one hit going into the top of the seventh inning. Roanoke managed to score two more runs in the seventh after a two-RBI single tacked on two runs, making it 3-0.

Tyler Wilson went 2-for-4 and hit the only RBI for the Cougars on the day. Romano went 2-for-4 and was at the center of the Cougars' offense. Through three innings of work, sophomore Nathan Comer allowed two hits and one run. Despite earning the loss, he had a solid outing on the mound. Freshman Tim Schware allowed no hits in two innings pitched.

The Cougars are scheduled to play at home on Saturday in a conference doubleheader against No. 5 Shenandoah University beginning at 12 p.m.