(Story courtesy Augusta GreenJackets)
HICKORY, NC: A seemingly endless contest between the GreenJackets and Crawdads saw Augusta pull away late, scoring seven unanswered in the final three innings for a 13-6 victory and series win.
The Crawdads jumped in front early, posting a pair of runs in the first before Owen Hackman could settle in. Maxton Martin began the charge with a one-out single, and took third on a double from Braylin Morel. Martin scored on a base hit from Antonis Macias, and a two-out poke from Esteban Mejia doubled the lead.
Augusta’s offense was limited by Ismael Agreda early, but a run of spotty command in the fourth opened the door. Agreda walked Colby Jones and Juan Mateo with one out, and after striking out Nick Montgomery, a free pass to Joe Olsavsky loaded the bases and pulled Agreda from the game. Reliever Will Privette was tasked with the lead, but Douglas Glod singled home two on Privette’s first pitch to tie the game.
The barrage against the bullpen would continue in the middle innings, as Juan Mateo gave Augusta the lead with a two-out single in the fifth to bring home two more runs. With Kyle Larsen brought in for the sixth, Glod crushed a two-out home run to the opposite field, and an unearned run on a throwing error made it 6-2 GreenJackets.
Just as they did in Thursday’s game, the Crawdads hung around and struck for a big total late, taking advantage of wildness from Colson Lawrence for the second time. Lawrence faced four batters and walked three, before being yanked for Albert Rivas. Rivas retired Yeremy Cabrera for the inning’s second out, but hung a change-up to Martin, who obliterated it for a game-tying grand slam.
Never a team to be deterred, the GreenJackets snatched the lead back for good on their first batter of the next half inning, as Isaiah Drake turned on a Larsen change and snuck it over the right field wall for a go-ahead homer. Juan Mateo would reach once again to chase Larsen, and Olsavsky beat out an infield single that scored Mateo.
Rivas and Trent Buchanan each posted zeroes in the seventh and eighth, and the GreenJackets put the game firmly out of reach in the ninth. Brock Porter walked the first three batters of the inning, and Michael Trausch came on and walked two more for a pair of runs. Owen Carey would beat out an RBI fielder’s choice, and Drake clubbed a two-run single to cap the inning and put a bow on his first career four-hit game. The GreenJackets totaled 12 walks offensively, their highest total of the year.
After a 1-2-3 ninth from Juan Sanchez, Augusta had secured the series in their final meeting with the Crawdads this year. The Jackets end the week with double digit hits in all four of their wins, and will look to keep the bats hot when they return home. After a much-needed day off tomorrow, Augusta begins a 12-game homestand, starting with six games against the Carolina Mudcats from Tuesday to Sunday.
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