Augusta Bats Break Out Late to Win Game Two

GreenJackets Overcome Game One Heartbreak to Split Doubleheader

Augusta Bats Break Out Late to Win Game Two

*NORTH AUGUSTA, SC: *The Augusta GreenJackets (21-23) split Thursday's doubleheader with the Charleston RiverDogs (28-17) as they rebounded from a gut-wrenching game one defeat and took the second matchup.

GAME 1

The first battle of the night had the makings of a pitcher's duel as the game was scoreless through the first two innings until the GreenJackets grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Stephen Paolini to score Francisco Floyd to make it a 1-0 game.

The RiverDogs evened things up in the next half inning as Kenny Piper drew a bases-loaded walk to square the game at one apiece.

Stephen Paolini manufactured another sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to bring home Ethan Workinger to put the GreenJackets back in front 2-1.

In the sixth, Charleston grabbed their first lead of the contest on a home run by Ryan Spikes that tied the game, followed by a go-ahead RBI double by Oneil Manzueta to make it 3-2 RiverDogs.

Augusta counterpunched in the bottom half of the inning with Justin Janas tying the game on an RBI single to plate David McCabe and knot the game at 3-3. The GreenJackets would then take the lead as they scored two runs on an error off the bat of Kadon Morton as Ethan Workinger and Francisco Floyd scored to make it a 5-3 game in favor of the GreenJackets.

However, Charleston would storm back for three runs with two outs in the top of the seventh with a bases-loaded walk that tied it followed by one more scoring on a throwing error to put Augusta behind 6-5.

Despite a lead-off hit from Keshawn Ogans in the bottom half of the inning, the GreenJackets were unable to score and were defeated in heartbreaking fashion 6-5 in game one.

Matthew Peguero (1-0) picked up the victory for the RiverDogs with Tyler Owens (4-2) suffering the loss for Augusta.

GAME 2

The GreenJackets played the second game of the doubleheader as the visitors in their own ballpark as part of a makeup game from a rainout in Charleston.

The RiverDogs took the lead in the third inning on an RBI single by Junior Caminero as Charleston secured a 1-0 edge after three.

Augusta tied the game in the top of the fourth on a balk with runners at the corners to make it a 1-1 game.

The back-and-forth game continued in the bottom half as Nathan Perry put the RiverDogs on top with a solo home run to right to push Charleston ahead 2-1.

In the next half inning, David McCabe brought home Keyshawn Ogans on an infield to hit to even the game at two.

The GreenJackets would then make their move in the sixth as Francisco Floyd powered Augusta in front with a three-run bomb to left field to give them their largest lead at 5-2.

Braulio Vasquez added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh with a two-run double as he delivered the dagger in a 7-2 win for the GreenJackets.

Elison Joseph (3-2) earned his third win in relief for Augusta with Jonny Cuevas (3-1) finishing as the losing pitcher for Charleston.

Francisco Floyd's three-run homer was the most impactful swing of the night for Augusta as he helped push the GreenJackets over the top in game two while also scoring three runs in both games combined. David McCabe's 2/4 performance in game two was the third multi-hit game of the series and his fifth game with an RBI. Kevin Kilpatrick in his debut start for Augusta doubled in his first at-bat to highlight game two performances.

The GreenJackets and RiverDogs will return to a conventional nine-inning battle on Friday night as Luis Vargas squares off with JJ Goss of Charleston with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.

The tenth homestand of the season for the GreenJackets continues Friday with Sweetwater Night at the ballpark with specialty jerseys with an auction that will benefit North Augusta Forward/FROG in addition to Braves BUZZFest. The White Claw Pregame Concert Series starts off Saturday Night with live music from Greg Fortune from 4:30-5:30 with a postgame fireworks extravaganza to follow. The homestand wraps up Auggie’s Birthday Bash as you can celebrate the birthday of the best mascot in CSRA!

About SRP Park/Augusta GreenJackets

The Augusta GreenJackets are the Carolina League Single-A Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves playing in the state of the art SRP Park located in North Augusta, SC. The GreenJackets 2022 Game and promotional schedule is out and available online at www.GreenJacketsBaseball.com. 2022 Augusta GreenJackets season seat memberships are on sale now. To learn more about the benefits and to get in on the action, visit www.gjmembers.comor call (803) 349-WINS (9467).

SRP Park is the anchor piece of Riverside Village, a live, work, "playball" development which includes apartment living, retail, restaurants, class "A" office space, and a Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. To learn more about SRP Park and hosting events and availability, visit www.thesrppark.com.

-GreenJackets -