BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College baseball team (3-0) swept the season-opening series with a 10-6 victory over visiting Averett University (0-3) on Saturday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
 
Freshman starting pitcher Blake Altschuler (1-0) was superb in his collegiate debut, allowing two runs on two hits, while striking out six batters en route to the victory.  The native of Concord, North Carolina held the Cougars hitless for the first 2.1 innings and recorded 1-2-3 innings in three of the five frames he pitched.
 
Freshman lefty Kalen Milstead also made his first appearance collegiately in relief of Altschuler.  Milstead struck out three batters, while allowing just one run on two hits in two innings pitched.  Sophomore Matthew Evans pitched the final two innings, giving up one earned run on three hits.
 
Offensively, Brevard delivered with ten runs on 11 hits.  Junior third baseman Frankie Vasquez hit the first home run of the year by a Tornado as part of a two-hit, four-RBI performance with a stolen base and a sacrifice fly.  Shortstop Luke Martin went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs, two RBI and a stolen base.  First baseman Cale Oehler went 2-for-5 with a doubles, three RBI and a run scored.  
 
After Altschuler retired Averett 1-2-3 on nine pitches in the top of the first, BC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the opening inning.  Morton doubled, then was driven home by an Oehler two-bagger for the first run of the contest.  Vasquez then went deep with a two-run bomb to left field to score Oehler and give BC the early advantage.
 
Morton hit his second double in as many at bats with a blast to left field that scored Davis Bryson and CP Pyle to build the lead to 5-0 in the second.  Averett cut the lead to 5-2 in the next frame, but Brevard added two unearned runs in the third and fourth to stretch the lead back to five runs. 
 
After two scoreless innings followed by the two teams trading runs in the seventh, Oehler then hit an RBI-single scoring Logan Clark.  Later in the inning, Vasquez put the ball into play as freshman pinch runner Tyson scored his first collegiate run on the play to give BC a 10-3 cushion.  Averett scored three runs, two of which were unearned, in the ninth before BC completed the win and the series sweep.
 
Brevard will return to action with a trip to LaGrange College next weekend in LaGrange, Georgia. The next home series for the Tornados is set for February 24-25 vs. Oberlin at Gil Coan Field.
 
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-BC-