The #3 seed Greensboro baseball team rallied from a 6-0 hole but came up short in an 8-4 USA South opening round loss to #6 seed Averett on Thursday. The Pride will play the loser of Thursday’s 4:30 p.m. game between #2 Shenadoah and #7 North Carolina Wesleyan. The elimination match-up will take place on Friday morning at 9 a.m. at Elon University.
Averett jumped on Greensboro early in this one, scoring one in the second, three in the third and one in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. The Cougars tacked on support in the sixth with one run to go up 6-0.
The Pride fought their way back into the game in the seventh with four runs to narrow the gap to 6-4. Greensboro recorded four of its six hits during the frame. Matthew Parker contributed three of the runs with a bases clearing double to left center. Austin Catherina concluded the scoring with an RBI single that brought Parker around.
After both teams went scoreless in the eighth, Averett came through with two big runs in the top of the ninth to extend the margin to 8-4. The Pride bats went three up, three down in the ninth to close out the game.
Parker and Catherina both finished with two hits apiece for Greensboro. Jacob Cadle took the loss on the mound in 3.2 innings of work.
The Pride are now 21-13 on the season.