Southside VA News

Baseball falls to Bridgewater in two heartbreakers

Averett University lost Game 1 in extra innings 6-5 and fell in the ninth to Bridgewater College 11-10 in Game 2 on Saturday night.

In game 1, Averett (3-12-1, 0-4 ODAC) started off hot in the top of the first inning. Sophomore Gavin Colwell lead off with a double hit to left center. Junior Brandt Brophy followed up after he smacked a single through the left side to advance Colwell to third. Sophomore Preston Robbins swatted a single through the left side, scoring Colwell and advancing Brophy to third. Freshman Chris Byrd kept the hit streak going with an RBI single hit to right field, advancing Robbins to third. Senior Kyle Wilson reached first on a fielder's choice, scoring Robbins to extend the Cougar lead to 3-0.

Bridgewater (7-12, 2-2 ODAC) cut down the deficit following a two-RBI single. The Eagles built a 5-3 lead going into the ninth inning. Sophomore Tyler Wilson was hit by pitch to begin the ninth. He was subbed out for junior Drew Rabon as a pinch runner. Rabon advanced to second on a fielding error following Nick Romano reaching first on a fielding error. The runners advanced to second and third after sophomore Kevin Zischke grounded out to second. Colwell smacked a ball through the left side to score Rabon and Romano to tie the game up 5-5. The Eagles ended the game in the bottom of the tenth following a walk-off single.

In Game 2, the Cougars were quick to put runs on the board in the first inning. They scored four runs off of a struggling Eagles' defense who recorded three errors in the inning. In the second inning, Brophy was walked and later in scoring position following after he stole second. Byrd cracked a double into left center to score Brophy. In the bottom half of the second inning, Bridgewater cut down Averett's lead to 5-3. 

The Cougars extended their lead once more in the third inning. Sophomore Caden Grider reached first on a fielder's choice and stole second. Freshman Connor Kubis singled up the middle to score Grider. Colwell hit his second double of the game to put the Cougars up 7-3. Bridgewater had a big inning in the bottom of the sixth, scoring seven runs to give them the lead. Averett managed to tie the game up in the seventh following an RBI single hit by Grider and a two-RBI single by Colwell. The Cougars made it to the ninth inning, but fell short after a walk-off RBI single by the Eagles.

Colwell continued to be the Cougars' bright spot on their offense, going 4-9 with four RBIS and two doubles.

The Cougars are back in action on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. when they host Roanoke college to resume conference play at Owen-Fulton Field. 

Original source can be found here