DANVILLE, Va. — In her final at-bat on her home field, senior
Taylor Sullivan perfectly placed a single in between outfielders in right-center field to provide a walk-off RBI single and lift Averett University softball to a 4-3 win in Game 2 to complete a doubleheader sweep of Bridgewater College on Saturday. The Cougars took Game 1 from Bridgewater 2-1 in their final home series of the season to clinch a spot in next week's Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament.
After picking up the needed win in Game 1, Averet fell behind early in Game 2. Bridgewater's offense pounced on Averett for two runs on four hits in the top of the first to take a 2-0 advantage. The Cougars answered in the bottom of the seventh to get back within 2-1. Freshman
Molly George's leadoff double set up sophomore
Hannah Zabik's RBI single up the middle. Averett then tied it in the third thanks to senior
Olivia Jones' bases-loaded RBI walk.
Tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the fifth, Sullivan drew a two-out walk. George's hit up the middle ricocheted off the diving second baseman's glove as Sullivan came all the way around to score on the play to put Averett in front 3-2.
Bridgewater got a two-out double in the top of the seventh to give the Eagles hope. Averett head coach
Carol Oberhelman turned to Sullivan to come in and pitch, and Averett got what would have been a game-ending groundout. However, an error on the throw helped Bridgewater score the game-tying run to send the game to the bottom of the seventh and set up the heroics for Sullivan.
Freshman
Mackenzie Newcomb singled to start the bottom of the seventh, and she moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Bridgewater got a foul out for the second out, leaving it up to Sullivan at the plate. The senior blooped in a single in shallow right-center field, which allowed Newcomb to score from second base and give the Cougars the 4-3 win to cap off a big day for the team.
Sullivan got the win in relief, taking over for freshman
Abby Sutton, who had a solid pitching performance after coming in to start the second inning before running into trouble in the seventh.
George had two of Averett's five hits in Game 2.
In the opener, junior
Hannah Jones had the two key hits to propel the Cougars to victory with Sullivan dominating in the circle. Jones' RBI single up the middle scored Zabik in the third inning to put Averett ahead 1-0. Jones singled home Zabik again in the fifth to extend the Cougars' lead to 2-0.
Bridgewater threatened in the sixth inning, but a great defensive play saved the day. With two on, the Eagles smacked a double to left-center, which scored one run. Bridgewater tried to score a second on the play but the Cougars' relay throw to home was in time to George, who tagged out the runner at the plate. That proved to be key to keep the one-run lead intact.
Sullivan struck out nine while allowing just one run on seven hits and one walk to earn the win in the circle.
Jones and Zabik each had two hits for the Cougars in the opener.
Averett will await the ODAC Tournament seeding, which will be announced at a later time.
