Box Score
Photo Gallery
Conference Tournament Page
BURLINGTON, N.C. — Third-seeded Shenandoah University defeated sixth-seeded Averett University 5-2 in the first round of the USA South Conference Tournament on Thursday Burlington Athletic Stadium.
Shenandoah (30-6) advanced to play Friday at 10 a.m. at Burlington Athletic Stadium against No. 2 seed Methodist University. Averett (23-16), meanwhile, will face No. 7 seed Greensboro in an elimination game at 9 a.m. at Elon University's Latham Park.
In a matchup of two of the conference's top offensive teams, Shenandoah came out on top in a relatively low scoring affair. In their two regular season contests, the two teams combined for 42 total runs. Yet, Thursday's tournament game didn't feature any big scoring innings.
Shenandoah struck first, going ahead 2-0 in the first inning. Jesse Henry drove in the first run with a single through the right side, scoring Kevin Brashears and moving Jon Holcomb to third base. Holcomb then scored when Henry got caught in in a rundown while trying to steal second base.
Averett got one run back in the top of the second inning.
Michael Moore led off with a double and later scored on
Eric McGuire's sacrifice fly to right-center. The Cougars tied the game at 2-2 on
Jake Loye's solo home run to lead off the fourth inning.
The tie was short-lived, however. Shenandoah bounced back to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom half of the inning when Keaton Neeb scored on a wild pitch.
The Hornets added an insurance run in both the sixth and eighth innings to go up 5-2.
Shenandoah left fielder Mike Smith was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Keaton Neeb was 2-for-2 with a run batted in.
Right-hander Jake Yocum (5-0) earned the win in 6.1 innings in the mound for Shenandoah. Right-hander Kyle Scallion pitches the final 2.2 innings to notch his sixth save this season.
Averett right-hander
Chase Hall (3-2) took the loss in 7.1 innings of work. Hall allowed five runs, but only two were earned.
First baseman
James Carter and catcher
Michael Moore each had a pair of hits for the Cougars.