Box Score
Recap courtesy of Averett University
DANVILLE, VA - Junior pitcher Kyle Slinger went seven innings allowing just three hits and one run to lead the Tufts baseball team to a 5-1 victory at Averett University on Tuesday. The Jumbos are now 5-0 on their spring trip.
Tufts benefitted from several Averett errors in the game played on a dreary afternoon at Owen-Fulton Field. Slinger improved to 2-0 on the hill.
Tufts grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning by taking advantage of a two-out error. A routine fly ball dropped into left-center field, allowing the first run to score. The Jumbos added the additional run moments later on Bryan Egan's single though the left side. The next inning, Tufts increased its lead to 3-0 on Nick Barker's rbi groundout.
Averett (7-12) trimmed its deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth when junior Taylor Davis drew a one-out walk and came around to score on junior Andrew Davies' rbi double to the gap in left-center field.
The Cougars' best opportunity to erase the rest of the deficit came in the bottom of the eighth inning. Averett got its two leadoff batters aboard. However, they couldn't get a sacrifice bunt down, which led to a double play. Tufts junior Willie Archibald got out of the jam with a strikeout to preserve the 3-1 advantage.
Tufts added two more runs - both unearned - in the top of the ninth. Freshman pinch hitter Oscar Kutch had an rbi single in the frame. In total, four of the Jumbos' five runs were unearned thanks to seven errors by the Cougars.
Averett junior left-hander Timothy Coston (2-1) took the loss despite allowing just one earned run in 6.2 innings on the mound while striking out five.
Tufts' pitching limited Averett to just four hits on the day. Slinger (2-0) earned the win, and Archibald pitched the final two innings to earn his second save of the season. Junior CF Connor McDavitt was 2 for 5 at the top of the Tufts order.
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