BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Averett University baseball battled back against Bridgewater College to force a decisive Game 3 on Saturday.
Averett (20-16, 12-12 ODAC) visited Bridgewater (26-13-1, 15-7-1 ODAC) for Round 1 action in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament. Friday's doubleheader saw the Eagles jump ahead of the Cougars in Game 1, winning 9-3 as Bridgewater put Averett on the verge of elimination. With their backs against the wall, the Cougars' combination of veteran leadership and youthful exuberance rallied to extend Averett's stellar 2025 season by at least one more day.
Averett made a clear statement in the top of the first inning that the road side would not be sent into the offseason quietly. The inning started inconspicuously as Averett's steady center fielder, senior
Mason Williams, worked a walk to reach first base. The calm before the storm ended in an instant, however, as graduate student
Nolan Maccabe lashed a double to right field to score Averett's first run of the game. The Cougars' barrage showed no signs of a ceasefire as redshirt sophomore
Trevor Testerman stepped up to the plate. So fresh, so clean, and so fast around the bases, Testerman lined a ball into left center and dashed around the bases like he was shot out of a cannon for a triple to score Averett's second run. Senior backstop
Preston Robbins followed suit, delivering a bit of clutch hitting to plate Testerman on a single dropped perfectly into the grass in front of Bridgewater's center fielder. Senior
Nick Romano rounded out Averett's four run outburst with a ball blooped into right field, getting caught up in the wind above the Eagles' stadium, that dropped rather fortuitously and allowed the Cougars to sneak one more run across the plate, leaping out of the gates with a 4-0 advantage.
Freshman
Ean Amerson kept Bridgewater off the board early, as the fiery young southpaw punched out the Eagles' three-hole hitter after getting a nicely turned double play from the glove of
Caden Grider. Bridgewater responded, not to be kept quiet with a chance to punch its ticket into the ODAC's big dance, as the Eagles pieced together runs in the second and third innings to draw within one run of the lead. Junior
Will Green II entered as the first arm out of the pen for the Cougars, working two innings of scoreless baseball, highlighted by three strikeouts, before Averett's head man Kenny Flemming called upon freshman
Corbin Mickle. Another member of the Cougars' stable of bright young arms, Mickle kept the Eagles' offense quiet over three innings of solid pitching, working his way into and promptly out of jams on his way to earning the win. Freshman
Cade Sabin, the final member arm in Averett's pen to be showcased,entered in the eighth inning and swiftly shut the door on Bridgewater with just one hit given up over the two innings of scoreless work.
While the young men on the mound kept the Eagles grounded, Averett's offense steadily built up insurance runs. The Cougars went two-out rallying in the top of the fourth, with Williams once again getting the party started. A double to left from the center fielder, followed by a walk from Maccabe, set the table for Testerman to clean up once again. Testerman sent a pitch right back up the middle for a single to score one run, and Maccabe turned on the jets to score on a wild pitch moments later, Averett now leading 6-3 after four.
The Cougars scored in bunches once again in the top of the sixth, and once again the spark for the inning came from the heart of the order. Williams reached via error, Testerman pounded a double, and Robbins swatted a ball into right field to clear the bases with a single. Sophomore
Drew Skinner joined in on the fun, singling up the middle to plate Robbins and stretch the Cougars lead out to 9-3. Romano added one final insurance run to Averett's tally in the top of the eighth. Not content with his bloop RBI in the first inning, Romano roped a ball into right field and galloped into third base with a triple that ballooned the Cougars' lead to 10-4. Ultimately, Bridgewater would attempt to mount a rally, to no avail, falling to Averett in Game 2, 10-5.
Though not mentioned at all in Game 2, senior
Kevin Zischke shined in the Cougars' Game 1 efforts. Zischke led Averett with three hits and scored two of the team's three runs in the opening game. Freshman
Maddox Warren turned in a similarly outstanding effort in Game 1, as the lefty hurled five innings in which he held the potent Bridgewater offense to just two runs. As a whole, Williams and Maccabe led the Cougars in hits with four on the day, while Zischke and Testerman turned in dueling three-hit performances in Games 1 and 2 respectively. Robbins provided the clutch, as he so often does, as the catcher led Averett with four RBIs across Friday's games.
A winner take all Game 3 is on deck. One more stands between Averett and Bridgewater, a coveted spot in the ODAC's final weekend of action, and a chance to compete for the conference crown at stake as Saturday's rubber match sets off at 3 p.m.
