Box Score
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DANVILLE, Va. — Averett battled back furiously, but the Cougars rally fell short on Senior Day as N.C. Wesleyan College won 10-9 on Sunday at Owen-Fulton Field.
The win gave N.C. Wesleyan (17-16, 9-3 USA South) the USA South Conference regular-season title and the top seed in this week's conference tournament. Averett (22-15, 5-7 USA South) will be the sixth seed.
A rough start put Averett in the hole early. N.C. Wesleyan rocked the Cougars for six runs in the third inning on its way to a 9-1 lead through five innings. However, Averett settled down and only gave up one run the rest of the way.
The Cougars' offense began to heat up in the sixth inning after sophomore
Matt Mitchell drove in two runs with a single to center field. Averett cut N.C. Wesleyan's lead to 10-4 on sophomore
James Carter's RBI single in the seventh.
Averett continued to pressure the Bishops in the eighth inning. Senior
Jake Loye smacked a two-run double to left-center, and senior
Michael Moore drove in Loye with a double down the third base line. A walk helped set up a two-run single by Carter, who finished the game 5-for-5 with three runs batted in. Although they cut the Bishops' lead to 10-9, the Cougars left two runners on base, including one in scoring position.
The Cougars shut down the Bishops in the top of the ninth, giving themselves a shot to tie or win the game in the bottom of the inning. Junior
Adam Higgins reached on a hit by pitch and stole second base, but the Cougars couldn't get him home as they came up short.
Averett outhit N.C. Wesleyan 20-10, but the Cougars left 13 runners on base.
Loye, who had a rocky day on the mound, went 4-for-6 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored. Moore was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Averett honored its senior class prior to the game. (
click here to see the photo gallery).
The Cougars tied Ferrum College for fifth in the regular season standings, but Ferrum held the tiebreaker. Averett will play third-seeded Shenandoah University at 1 p.m. on Thursday in Burlington, N.C.
Averett still has one more regular season game to play. It travels to face non-conference foe Bridgewater College at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.