DANIVILLE, Va. — Averett University baseball split with Virginia Wesleyan University in Saturday's doubleheader, winning 7-5 in Game 1 and falling 14-6 in Game 2 on Owen-Fulton Field.
Sophomore
C.J. Collins got the start for the Cougars in Game 1 of the doubleheader. Collins was dealing, pitching six scoreless innings and allowing just one earned run through nearly eight innings of work to earn his first win of the season.
In the bottom of the second inning, Averett (7-20, 3-9 ODAC) managed to score its first run. Freshman
Drew Skinner was walked to lead off. Sophomore
Trevor Testerman smoked a double to the center field fence to send Skinner to third. Skinner scored on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of senior
Brandt Brophy. In the fifth, the Cougars extended their lead to 3-0. Junior
Kevin Zischke was walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Junior
Gavin Colwell singled through the left side to put Zischke on third. Junior
Preston Robbins reached on a fielding error by the right fielder that also scored Zischke and put Robbins on second. Colwell came around to score on a groundout.
In the top of the seventh, Collins gave up his only earned run of the game off of a solo shot over the left field fence. In the bottom half of the inning, Collins got some insurance runs. Colwell led off with a single into center field. Robbins was walked to put runners on first and second. Skinner reached on a throwing error from the pitcher that allowed Colwell to score. Robbins came home off of a groundout from Testerman. Brophy slapped a single up the middle to score Skinner. Brophy stole second to get into scoring position. A single off of the bat of freshman
Tyler Lowe put Brophy on third. Graduate student
Nolan Maccabe laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Brophy, giving the Cougars a 7-1 lead.
A couple of errors early in the eighth inning put Collins in a tough spot. Virginia Wesleyan (16-11, 8-5 ODAC) managed to score two before junior
Jake Braun came into the game with the tying run on deck. Braun was able to keep the game at 7-3 to get the Cougars out of the eighth inning. Braun gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but was able to hold on to close out Game 1.
In Game 2, the Marlins got on the board early on, taking a 4-0 lead by the second inning. In the bottom of the inning, Skinner was walked with one out. He later advanced to second on a groundout. Brophy poked a single into right field that was bobbled to score Skinner to make the score 4-1. In the third, the Marlins added a run to the score. In the bottom of the inning, Zischke belted a triple with one out. Maccabe followed-up with a double into center to score Zischke. Robbins swatted a single into right field to send home Maccabe to make the score 5-3. The Cougars struggled defensively in the fourth inning, giving up four runs. Virginia Wesleyan managed to tack on two more runs going into the bottom of the seventh to lead 11-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, Zischke poked a single into left field with one out. Maccabe slapped another single through the right side to put runners on first and second. Colwell hit a single down the left field line to score Zischke. Robbins was hit by pitch to load up the bases. Maccabe scored on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of Skinner, making the score 11-5. The Marlins went on to add three more runs to the line score in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the inning, Maccabe led off with a hit by pitch. Robbins slapped a single into left field to put Maccabe on second. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Maccabe scored on a groundout from Skinner.
The Cougars are back in action on Tuesday against Roanoke College at 3:30 p.m.
