Augusta 7, Savannah 1

The Augusta GreenJackets never trailed Friday night in beating the Savannah Sand Gnats 7-1 at Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta. The Gnats (41-27) still need just one win in the final two games of the series, on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon, to clinch the first half title.  Augusta blew the game open with a five-run seventh. With one run home, and the bases loaded, Augusta 2B Ryan Cavan drilled a grand slam over the right field wall that made the score 7-1.  The Gnats scored their only run in the sixth inning on a C Kai Gronauer sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. Gronauer’s six-game hitting streak ended with an 0-3 evening. Seven of the nine hits in the Savannah batting order had at least one hit.  Savannah starter Collin McHugh (2-5) worked in and out of trouble through five innings, yielding two runs on nine hits. Savannah will try to clinch the first half Championship Saturday night when they send RHP Brandon Moore (3-4, 2.25) to the hill against RHP Andy Reichard (0-0, 0.00), making his first start for Augusta.