Rome 5, Savannah 3

Once again it was Savannah jumping out to an early lead and once again it was Rome coming back and defeating the Sand Gnats as the Braves topped Savannah, 5-3. Zeke Spruill (1-0) earned the win for Rome while Manny Olivares (0-1) suffered the loss for Savannah.


Savannah capitalized on Rome miscues in the first to score their first run. Sean Ratliff hit a ball to shortstop Ryan Barba that deflected off his glove and allowed Jefry Marte to score to give Savannah the early 1-0 lead.


After Rome tied it in the second, Savannah answered in the third. Back-to-back singles by Juan Lagares and Jordany Valdespin started the inning. After Marte was retired, Wilmer Flores hit a ball back to the pitcher Spruill who deflected the ball away from any Braves infielder. Lagares and Valdespin scored on the play and Savannah was back in the lead.


The lead would hold as Elvin Ramirez worked his way through 3.2 innings. He had to work himself out of trouble a couple of times before being lifted in the fourth with two on and two down. Olivares came on and allowed an RBI single to David Ross to pull Rome within one.


In the fifth, L.V. Ware singled in a pair to give Rome the lead for good. Ware was 1-for-1 with a pair of walks for Rome while Samuel Sime went 3-for-3.


Erik Turgeon was the only Gnats pitcher to not allow a run in the contest; he pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth. At the dish, Valdespin and Marte were each 2-for-4 to lead Savannah.