Augusta 6, Savannah 5

Bobby Haney had gone hitless in his last 13 at-bats when he stepped to the plate in the 10th inning with the winning run at second and the Augusta GreenJackets and Savannah Sand Gnats tied at five. He wouldn’t make it 14 in a row. Haney delivered with an RBI single to left, scoring Rafael Rodriguez to give the GreenJackets a 6-5 win in 10 innings in front of 5,252 – the largest crowd of the season at Lake Olmstead Stadium.



Rodriguez had singled to open up the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before Haney smashed the game-winner to left. It’s Augusta’s sixth walkoff win of the year and second in as many nights. With the win, the GreenJackets extend their season-long winning streak to eight games and have now won 10 of their last 11.


Augusta drew first blood, picking up a pair in the second. They sent eight to the plate in the inning, scoring on Chris Lofton’s RBI single and a bases loaded walk to Josh Mazzola to give Augusta a 2-0 edge. They left the bases loaded in the inning as stranded runners became a theme for both teams. Augusta left 11 men on base while the Sand Gnats stranded a whopping 18, leaving the bases full three times.


Savannah struck back in the next half inning, batting around and scoring three times – all with two outs. Alonzo Harris singled home a run while Darrell Ceciliani’s triple to left – just out of the reach of a lunging Rodriguez tied the game at two. Wilfredo Tovar’s infield single to deep shortstop scored Ceciliani to give the Gnats a 3-2 lead. The Sand Gnats added two more off the GreenJackets bullpen in the sixth on back-to-back, bases-loaded RBI singles by Aderlin Rodriguez and Joe Bonfe.


Chipping away at the lead piece-by-piece, the GreenJackets began their climb back in the bottom of the sixth. Jeff Arnold drove in a run with a two-out single to pull the GreenJackets to within two. An inning later, Ryan Lollis’s RBI single made it a 5-4 game. With runners at first and second with one out in the ninth, Lollis again singled. Willoughby tried to score the tying run from second but was thrown out at the plate for the inning’s second out. Mazzola followed with an RBI single to tie the game at five and eventually send it to extras.


Shawn Sanford was denied the chance for his fourth straight win, taking the no decision after scattering eight hits and three walks in five innings. He allowed three runs and struck out a pair. Drew Bowlin (2-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief, striking out a pair. Gabriel Zavala (1-5) allowed Haney’s game-winning hit and took the loss.
 
From team press release