Rome 5, Savannah 2

The Rome Braves defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats 5-2 Wednesday afternoon at State Mutual Stadium before a crowd of 1,635. The Braves will go for the four game sweep of Savannah tomorrow night at 7pm.


In the bottom of the third Tony Mueller, Kyle Rose, and Matt Lipka loaded the bases with three consecutive singles. David Rohm then walked to bring home Mueller for the first run of the game. Evan Gattis then followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Rose and make it a 2-0 Braves lead. The Sand Gnats responded in the top of the fourth with a run of their own to make it a 2-1 game. Rafael Fernandez led off the inning with a walk then advanced to third on a single by Blake Forsythe and Joe Bonfe brought Fernandez home with a sacrifice fly.



The Braves got the run back in the bottom of the fourth when Robert Hefflinger scored after a wild throw on a double play attempt by Sand Gnat second baseman Alonzo Harris. After Hefflinger led off with a single Kyle Rose walked with one out to put runners on first and second. Lipka then grounded a double play ball to short but Harris’ throw to first skipped into the dugout allowing Hefflinger to score and make it a 3-1 Rome advantage. In the bottom of the fifth Gattis and Tommy La stella had back to back singles to lead off the inning to put runners at first and third with no outs. Gattis was able to score one batter later when Harris made his second error on another double play throwing attempt making it a 4-1 game.



Rafael Fernandez (6) added a run for Savannah in the bottom of the sixth with an opposite field solo homerun to cut the deficit to 4-2. The Braves would once again get their run back as they scored for the fourth straight inning in the bottom of the sixth to extend it back to a three run 5-2 lead. After Rose reached on a bunt single Lipka sacrificed him over to second and Rohm scored him after lacing an RBI double down the left field line.



Aderlin Rodriguez (15) added another solo homerun for Savannah in the top of the ninth off of closer Cody Martin but it would be all the Sand Gnats could get as they drop their third straight to the Braves 5-3.



Aaron Northcraft (5-8) went seven strong innings for the Braves allowing two runs and earns the win for Rome while Gonzalez Germen( 7-6) takes the loss for Savannah. - from team press release