SALEM, Va. — Averett University baseball roared back into the win column as the Cougars came away victorious over Roanoke College [RV].
Averett (7-13, 2-6 ODAC) took down the nationally ranked Roanoke (15-5, 4-3 ODAC) side with an 8-6 road victory in midweek Old Dominion Athletic Conference action.
The Cougars started out hot in the top of the first inning, hanging a three-spot on Roanoke before the Maroons had their turn at the plate. Averett capitalized on a bit of small ball, as senior
Luke Keister drew a leadoff walk before junior
Drew Skinner dropped a sacrifice bunt to advance Keister. Senior
Austin Ford stepped up with a man in scoring position and delivered an RBI single into left field to open the scoring. A walk from senior
Connor Kubis and a pair of wild pitches from the Maroons' pitcher allowed Averett to jump out to the 3-0 lead.
Roanoke responded in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run longball, but Averett bounced right back in the third inning. Kubis set the table with a single to center and eventually came around to score the Cougars' fourth run of the game on an RBI base knock from junior
Joshua Gunn. Averett tacked two more on in the fourth inning thanks to a double off the bat of junior
Tyler Lowe, paired with more gaffes in the field for the Maroons. After four the score showed 6-4 in favor of the visiting team.
Averett scored its final pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. Junior
Maddox Jordan started things off with a leadoff single, Keister leaned in and wore a pitch to earn a free base, and Skinner executed another sacrifice bunt to move two into scoring position. Ford knocked in a run with a groundout for run number seven before another Roanoke error, one of seven in the game, allowed Averett to put its eighth run up on the board.
With the offense silenced after five innings, Averett turned to its pitching staff to hold Roanoke at bay for the reminder of the game. The Cougars' arms delivered, holding Roanoke to just two runs over the final five innings. Sophomore
Ean Amerson contributed to Averett's success in a big way, tossing 5.1 innings while allowing just three earned runs en route to earning the win on the mound. Sophomore
Cade Sabin blanked Roanoke out of the pen in his 1.2 innings of work, and Gunn came in to close the door on Roanoke in the bottom of the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
Keister led Averett's lineup with two hits, while seven Cougars each recorded a single hit on the day. Ford led Averett with two RBIs, with Gunn recording one of his own.
The Cougars will now turn their attention to yet another ranked opponent, as No. 13 Bridgewater College comes to town. Averett hosts the Eagles on Saturday, March 28, for a conference doubleheader starting at noon.
Â
