SALEM – The Roanoke Baseball team held off a late surge from Averett University to be victorious, 10-8 on Thursday night.  Roanoke moves to 9-9 on the season, while Averett drops to 14-10 overall.

Both teams went scoreless for the first two innings until Averett put a run on the board in the top of the third.  Roanoke answered in the bottom of the inning by Alexander Crittenden singled off a bunt that scored Chad Hill.  Crittenden would later score from a Jacob Clifton single to right.  Roanoke led 2-1 after three.

The Maroons poured on four more runs in the fourth inning, including Crittenden scoring again off an RBI triple from Ben Amos.  After four, Roanoke led 6-1.  Averett respoonded in the top of the fifth with four runs of their own, in an inning that opened in an error.  The Cougars scored their four runs off five hits in the inning.

Roanoke and Averett put up one run each in the sixth inning, with Kluge scoring another run off a “failed” steal attempt by Crittenden that allowed Kluge to go unnoticed from third.  After six, the Maroons led 8-6.

The Cougars cut the deficit to one in the seventh as Kyle Newcomb opened the inning with a double, then advanced home over the next two outs.  The Maroons spread the lead to 10-7 in the eighth, as both Kluge and Bradley Mattox scored off an RBI double and an error, respectively.

Averett tried to close the gap in the ninth, but only put one run up on the board, as J.R. Wood scored off an error from the Maroons.  Roanoke stopped the scoring though, and defeated Averett, 10-8

Kluge finished the contest hitting 2-for-3, scoring four runs in the process.  Crittenden finished 2-for-3, scoring two runs with three RBIs.

Tyler Muench picked up the loss for Averett, but accumulated 10 strikeouts on the Maroons.  Jimbo Newcomb hit 4-for-5 scoring two runs with one RBI.  Cody Moore notched three RBIs in the contest.

The Maroons return to action on March 17^th as the Maroons travel to face Virginia Wesleyan in ODAC play.  The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM.
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