Savannah 9, Augusta 4

from Press Release:

The Sand Gnats (9-5) bit the Augusta GreenJackets (9-5) with a six-run ninth inning for a come from behind 9-4 win Wednesday night at Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta. With the win, the Gnats pulled into a tie for first with the GreenJackets. Savannah has now won three in a row and six of its last seven games.

The Gnats began the ninth down 4-3, facing Augusta closer Jason Jarvis who saved two games when the Jackets took three of four from Savannah in the season's opening week. Leftfielder Rafael Fernandez, who had three hits in the game, began the inning with an infield single off Jarvis' glove. After catcher Kai Gronauer's single to left, right fielder Cesar Puello's attempted sacrifice bunt went into no-man's land to load the bases with no outs.

That brought up 1B Alex Gregory who smacked a one-hopper to John Eshleman at short, which he threw into right field to bring two runs home and hand Savannah the lead at 5-4. Alonzo Harris, who had entered the game as a pinch-runner in the 8th inning, then singled into centerfield to make the score 6-4. Another 'Jackets error brought home Savannah's seventh run before Jefry Marte's two-out, two-run double gave the Gnats a commanding 9-4 lead. It was Marte's first hit of the year after the Savannah third baseman missed the team's first 13 games while on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring.

Savannah jumped on Jackets' starter Jorge Bucardo for two runs in a first inning keyed by a SS Wilmer Flores RBI double. In the third, Augusta got a run back on three straight singles. In the bottom of the seventh, things started to get wild as Augusta tied the game on Marte's throwing error and took a 3-2 lead on Ryan Cavan's RBI double.

Juan Lagares knotted things up at three for Savannah in the top of eighth with a sacrifice fly before Luke Anders gave the GreenJackets their 4-3 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth.

Collin McHugh (2-1) got the win in relief for Savannah with a three-inning stint that saw him blow a save, lose his own lead and then end up as the winning pitcher. He allowed three runs - one earned - on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.

Brandon Moore gave up just one run on five hits in five innings in his first start of the year for Savannah. He fanned five and walked one before handing the bullpen a 2-1 lead.