DANVILLE, Va. – Averett University baseball starts off the season with three straight wins, for the first time since 2007, with a three-game sweep of Brevard College.
Averett (3-0) took care of business during the Sunday matinee, dispatching Brevard (0-3) 10-4 behind a strong offensive outburst and tenacious pitching from the Cougars.
Graduate student Shane Michel started for Averett, and after hitting a small speed bump early, the Cougars' veteran pitcher kept the Tornados at bay.
The Cougars responded promptly in the bottom of the first inning, sparked by back to back stolen bases from senior Mason Williams, and a rocket single from redshirt sophomore Trevor Testerman to send the tying runs across the plate. After a one, two, three inning from Michel and his defense, the star of Saturday's walkoff win kept his hot streak alive. Sophomore Drew Skinner roped a single into center, before sophomore Tyler Lowe hit a sharp single through the left side of the infield to put Averett ahead.
The Cougars would never hand the lead back to Brevard, Williams stole his third bag of the day and promptly scored courtesy of another single from Testerman to extend the lead to 4-2. Skinner stepped up to the plate with runners on base once again and blasted a double to put Averett ahead 5-2.
Sophomore Garret Arner was the first arm out of the bullpen for Averett, and entered into messy situation. Arner took the mound with the bases loaded and no outs, before promptly striking out the first two Tornados batters he faced. A leaping grab from graduate student Nolan Maccabe, ranging back and reaching above the left field wall to rob Brevard of extra bases, closed out the inning and set Arner on a roll. After senior Cale Oehler, Brevard's clean-up hitter, ran into one to put the Tornados back on the board, Arner completely locked out the visiting side. The sophomore went on to retire eight straight batters en route to locking up the win for Averett.
While Arner fanned the Tornados, tallying three strikeouts, the Averett offense continued to pile on. Senior Caden Grider set things off with an RBI-double, before Skinner pushed another runner across home plate. Maccabe barreled a double deep into the left-center ally, his second of the game, and to no surprise it was Skinner who singled home Averett's baserunners. The three-RBI day pushes Skinner to six through just three games. Sophomore Teddy Hauser tacked on one more, his first run driven in as a Cougar, to put Averett ahead 10-4.
Freshman Maddox Warren and sophomore Will Green II combined to lock Brevard down through the late stages of the game, with Averett securing a 10-5 victory over the Tornados.
The Cougars are streaking to start the new season, and will ride the momentum into a four game set against Alma College. The first of four games, the front leg of a doubleheader is set for Friday, Feb. 12th at noon.
