Rome 5, Savannah 3

The Rome Braves defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats 5-3 in front of 1,741 fans at State Mutual Stadium Wednesday afternoon to take game three of the four game series. The Braves move to 19-20 in the second half.



Savannah took the 2-0 lead in the second inning when R.J. Harris (3) blasted a two run homerun after James Schroeder reached on a throwing error by Edward Salcedo. Rome tied the game at 2-2 in the third. Matt Weaver led off the inning with a walk followed by bunt singles from Bobby Rauh and Phil Gosselin to load the bases. Todd Cunningham drew a bases loaded walk to plate Weaver. Joe Leonard grounded into a double play but Rauh scored the second run.



The Sand Gnats took back the lead in the fourth inning. Travis Ozga singled, and then with two outs, Schroeder walked to put runners on first and second. Harris followed with an RBI single to plate Ozga. An RBI double by Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg would tie the game at 3-3 in the fifth after Todd Cunningham reached on a fielder’s choice and was moved over to third on a groundout by Leonard and a wild pitch by Savannah pitcher, John Church.



Rome’s Weaver (2) plated the go ahead runs in the eighth inning on a two run homerun down the left field line after a Salcedo single. The Braves would hold on for the 5-3 victory.



David Hale (4-8) earns the win for the Braves while Guillaume Leduc (1-2) of Savannah gets the loss. The Braves and Sand Gnats conclude their series tomorrow night at 7pm.