GreenJackets' Sixth Inning Rally Sinks Woodpeckers
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (49-62, 21-24) held a one-run lead throughout the early going Saturday night at SRP Park, but a big sixth inning from the Augusta GreenJackets (40-69, 12-32) was enough to steal a 3-1 win from the Woodpeckers. Augusta has once again regained the series
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (49-62, 21-24) held a one-run lead throughout the early going Saturday night at SRP Park, but a big sixth inning from the Augusta GreenJackets (40-69, 12-32) was enough to steal a 3-1 win from the Woodpeckers. Augusta has once again regained the series lead as the two teams have alternated wins across the first five games this week.
The early lead was earned by Fayetteville in the top of the third when GreenJackets starter J.R. Ritchie threw a Caden Powell ground ball back to the mound over the head of catcher Harry Owen, allowing Joseph Sullivan to slide in safely for the 1-0 advantage. It was the only run allowed by Ritchie, who struck out eight over five innings. Woodpeckers’ starter Luis Rodriguez was equally stout, tossing four scoreless innings and fanning three.
Fayetteville brought on Astros 2024 tenth round pick Ramsey David in the fifth and the righthander out of Southeastern University delivered a scoreless frame in his professional debut. He was followed by another debuting arm in former Florida Atlantic Owl Danny Trehey (L, 0-1) in the sixth, who quickly ran into trouble after hitting Will Verdung and walking Mason Guerra to begin his outing. John Gil then ripped an RBI double down the left field line to tie the game at one before Owen laced a two-run double into right that gave Augusta the lead for good.
The Woodpeckers could not solve the GreenJackets’ bullpen down the stretch as the trio of Hayder Ortiz (W, 1-0), Jacob Gomez, and Albert Rivas shut Fayetteville out over the final four innings. Lucas Spence and Trevor Austin both had a pair of hits in the losing effort with the latter bumping his batting average up to .407 since Austin’s debut last week against Lynchburg.
Sunday’s series finale marks the final meeting between the two clubs in 2024. The Woodpeckers send RHP Sandy Mejia to the mound, hoping to force a split. Meanwhile, Augusta will start RHP Jacob Shafer. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 PM.