SWEET BRIAR, Va. — Averett University softball shut down a red-hot Sweet Briar College team, sweeping a doubleheader with the Vixens to open Old Dominion Athletic Conference play on Tuesday. The Cougars ended Sweet Briar's nine-game win streak with a pair of shutouts as Averett won 9-0 and 8-0 in six innings.
To open the day, Averett (10-8, 2-0 ODAC) took advantage of an infield error to go in front 1-0. That margin remained the same until the later innings when the Cougars' offense exploded for eight runs over the final three innings. Sophomore
Carson Bradsher's RBI single in the fifth gave Averett a 2-0 advantage, and the Cougars tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Averett pulled away with a five-run seventh inning that included back-to-back RBI doubles by sophomores
Mackenzie Newcomb and
Kadence Woodlief.
The run support was more than plenty for junior right-hander
Hannah Zabik, who shut out Sweet Briar (11-5, 0-2 ODAC) while scattering five hits and three walks over seven innings. She finished with seven strikeouts.
Averett pounded out 15 hits in Game 1, including three each by Woodlief and freshman
Brianna Brooks.
Game 2 had many similarities to the first game of the day. Averett took an early 2-0 lead in the third thanks to two runs coming home on an error. The Cougars then piled on five runs in the fifth, including a pair on Zabik's RBI single to left field. Averett plated one more run in the sixth to get an eight-run advantage to end the game early.
Sophomore right-hander
Kaci Stephenson picked up the second win in the circle for Averett, tossing a one-hitter without allowing a walk. A runner reaching on an error in the first and a one-out single in the second were the only baserunners for the Vixens in Game 2.
Averett's offense had six hits — two by Newcomb — and took advantage of seven Sweet Briar errors.
The Cougars return to the Lynchburg area on Saturday with a road doubleheader against Randolph College beginning at 1 p.m.
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