DANVILLE, Va. – Averett University baseball surges late but ultimately loses in the ninth inning against Ferrum College.
Averett (13-9, 5-6 ODAC) fell behind early, stormed back late, but ultimately could not shut the door on Ferrum (14-13, 4-9 ODAC) in a thrilling rivalry contest that finished in a 9-8 victory for the visiting Panthers.
Ferrum blasted out of the gates in the early innings, jumping out to a 7-1 advantage through four innings of play. The Cougars began to chip away at the Panthers' lead as the game headed towards crunch time.
Senior
Nick Romano started Averett's climb back into contention with a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Cougars' lineup worked the bases loaded before the heart of the order, redshirt sophomore
Trevor Testerman and graduate student
Nolan Maccabe, each put together sacrifice at bats to push two runs across the plate. Freshman
Maddox Warren came into the game for Averett and delivered two clean innings on the mound while the Cougars' bats heated up. Sophomore
Tyler Lowe and junior
J.C. Barry hit back to back singles, Romano doubled again, and a pair of fielders choice's from sophomore
Jack Turner and senior
Mason Williams plated two more runners, drawing the score to 7-5 after six innings. Testerman striped a double to kickstart the bottom of the seventh before taking advantage of sloppy fielding by the Panthers to pull Averett within one run of the lead, 7-6.
The game reached its crescendo for the home side in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs in the inning, senior
Kevin Zischke hit a line drive double over the head of Ferrum's centerfielder to bring Testerman up with a chance at heroics. Averett's dual sport phenom delivered magnificently in the moment. Testerman launched a towering home run, a no doubter that soared through the cloudy skies above Owen-Fulton Field, clearing the left field wall to put an exclamation mark on Averett's comeback.Â
Averett entered the ninth inning, ahead 8-7, with a chance to snap its losing skid and send a longtime rival home empty-handed. The Panthers did not go down quietly. After two quick outs the visitors staved off death multiple times, surviving two strike counts a handful of times en route to mounting a comeback of their own. Ferrum pulled ahead, 9-8, before shutting down the Cougars in the bottom half of the inning to secure the victory.
Averett is on the road for the squads' next chance at redemption. The Cougars head to the 757 to take on Virginia Wesleyan University for a Saturday doubleheader. Averett's rendezvous with the Marlins is set to get underway on April 5 at noon.
