(Story courtesy Noah Adcock-Howeth, Augusta GreenJackets)
NORTH AUGUSTA – The GreenJackets scored seven unanswered runs after the fourth inning, using two out knocks to defeat the Charleston RiverDogs 7-3 Saturday night.
Augusta’s offense showed there was a spark immediately against starter T.J. Nichols. Nichols was returning from injury and on a strict pitch count, and the Jackets tagged him for three hits and a walk in two innings. Nichols survived both innings scoreless, as Isaiah Drake’s blistering line drive went right to the second baseman to leave the bases loaded.
With the momentum swinging to Charleston’s side, the RiverDog offense went to work against Garrett Baumann. Well-located soft contact in the third put two men on and both would score on RBIs from Noah Myers and Adrian Santana at the top of the order. Charleston added another in the fourth as Angel Mateo led off the frame with a double, and came around to score on a double play. Meanwhile, the ‘Jackets put a man in scoring position in both innings against reliever Luis Hernandez but could not bring anyone home, starting the day 0-8 with runners in scoring position.
After Baumann’s 1-2-3 fifth was punctuated with an incredible Willie Mays-style catch from Isaiah Drake, the offense began to threaten in the bottom half. Back to back men reached against Hernandez, who then struck out two before being pulled, setting up a tense standoff between Cam Magee and new pitcher Seth Chavez.
Magee is never one to wait around and laced a first pitch changeup to right for a base hit to put the GreenJackets on the board. Noah Williams followed next and crushed a triple to right-center, scoring two and tying the game. Leiker Figueroa then bounced a base hit up the middle to give the Jackets their first lead since Tuesday.
Augusta’s bullpen proved phenomenal this evening, as LJ McDonough and Beau Philip combined for four scoreless innings of relief to quash any hopes of a RiverDog rally at every turn. Augusta would tack on three insurance runs in the seventh off of Cade Halemanu, as Harry Owen led off the inning with a first pitch homer, his first of the year, and Robert Gonzalez launched a two-run, two-out blast to cap the frame.
The GreenJackets got the 7-3 win to give Baumann his fifth victory of the season, while handing Chaves his fourth loss. The GreenJackets had a week-high 12 hits in the effort, including the first multi-homer game at SRP Park in 2024. Tomorrow, Ian Anderson makes a rehab assignment start as he returns from Tommy John surgery and climbs back towards the big leagues. Santiago Suarez will throw for the RiverDogs in a 1:35 p.m. matinee, with gates opening at 12:30 p.m. and tickets still available at greenjacketsbaseball.com.
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