DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University baseball broke into the win column against Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday.
Averett (13-20) led wire-to-wire against Johnson & Wales (5-28) as the Cougars took down the Wildcats, 10-0, in eight innings.
Senior
Michael Pellegrino started the game on the mound for Averett and blanked Johnson & Wales for seven innings. Pellegrino allowed just five hits and struck out two Wildcats in his seven scoreless frames. Freshman
Carter Hine came on in relief to close the door on Johnson & Wales, keeping the visiting side hitless in the eighth inning.
Averett's offense scored runs in bunches as the pitching staff kept Johnson & Wales silent. Senior
Luke Keister kicked off the game with a single through the left side and scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly from junior
Tyler Lowe. Junior
Drew Skinner drove in a run, scoring sophomore
Austin Ford, with a base knock. Senior
Mitchel Gaskins drove in another run on a single to right field, and after the first inning the Cougars held a 3-0 lead.
Senior
Connor Kubis kickstarted the bottom of the third inning with a double down the left field line, Gaskins worked a walk, and junior
Oscar Rodriguez-Marin drove a runner home with a single up the middle. Keister tallied an RBI on a fielder's choice, and Rodriguez-Marin came around to score on an error to push Averett's lead to 6-0.
Senior
Ryan Toney, freshman
Blake Reavill, and Keister led the offense in the bottom of the fifth inning, walking and hitting back-to-back singles to set the table. Ford capitalized on the bases loaded opportunity with a two-RBI single through the left side of the Wildcats' infield. Keister, always happy to bring havoc on the basepaths, came around to score after a botched pickoff attempt to extend the advantage to 9-0.
Gaskins and Rodriguez-Marin led off the decisive eighth inning with walks. Reavill played the role of walkoff hero to send the team's home early, scoring Averett's 10
th run with a single through the right side. Rodriguez-Marin rounded the bases and scored the final run of the game, closing the book on the 2026 home schedule for the Cougars.
Keister led the way with three hits, while Ford, Gaskins and Reavill had two hits each. Ford topped the statsheet with three RBIs, while Rodriguez-Marin, Skinner, Lowe, Reavill, askins, and Keister all had one.
Averett baseball has one more date left in the 2026, as the Cougars hit the road to play Eastern Mennonite University on Saturday, April 26, at noon.
