DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University baseball continued its win streak as the Cougars took down Division II Chowan University on Wednesday.
Averett (10-14, 3-7 ODAC) comfortably defeated the visiting Chowan (3-23) Hawks as the Cougars led wire-to-wire in a 7-1 victory.
The Cougars started their offensive efforts early on, as sophomore
Nathan Michalowicz worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the first to set the table. Junior
Drew Skinner singled to advance Michalowicz into scoring postion before junior
Tyler Lowe knocked in Averett's first run with a single to left center. The Cougars led 1-0 after the first and never looked back.
Averett's bats took an inning off in the second but rebounded to scratch another run on the Hawks in the bottom of the third inning. Familiar faces led the charge, as Michalowicz drew his second walk of the day and senior
Austin Ford knocked him home with a single to left field.
After holding Chowan to another scoreless inning in the top of the fourth, Averett began to stretch its lead in the bottom of the inning. Senior
Luke Keister got on base to lead off, Michalowicz walked for the third consecutive plate appearance, and Skinner wore a pitch on the elbow to load the bases for Ford. Ford delivered with a pair of RBIs on a double down the left field line. Lowe singled through the left side of the infield to drive in another run, vaulting Averett ahead, 5-0, with four innings in the books.
Redshirt sophomore
Teddy Hauser entered the game in the middle innings and made his presence known right away. Hauser launched a solo homer to left field in his first plate appearance, Averett's second long ball in as many games, as the Cougars led 6-1 after six innings.
Averett's final run of the ballgame came courtesy of the leadoff man, Keister. The Cougars' shortstop fired a line drive single the opposite way to right field to put Averett ahead by its widest margin of the day, 7-1.
The Cougars' arms kept Chowan locked down and off-balance all throughout the game. Junior
Joshua Gunn earned the start on the mound for Averett. Gunn fired two innings of scoreless ball in which the hard-throwing righty limited Chowan to just one hit.
Freshman
Landon Hamm-Shiflett kept things going with a scoreless inning of his own in a rock-solid collegiate debut. Sophomore
Corbin Mickle took the mound next and earned his second win of the season with two innings of scoreless work, keeping Chowan off the base paths entirely and striking out one Hawk.
Senior
Michael Pellegrino held Chowan out of the hit column in one inning on the mound, freshman
Justin Godsey hurled two scoreless innings, and junior
Will Green II slammed the door shut on Chowan with a clean top of the ninth.
Ford and Lowe tied for the team lead with two hits each, while Ford's three-RBI day narrowly topped Lowe's two-RBI performance. Michalowicz takes home the award for funky statline of the day, scoring three runs without recording an at bat in the contest, drawing a walk in all three plate appearances.
Averett baseball is back in action next as the Cougars welcome Virginia Wesleyan University for a two-game conference series starting on Friday, April 3, at 3 p.m.
