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Box Score
May 10, 2011
PBC Tournament: Ninth-Inning Rally Keeps Augusta State Alive
COLUMBUS, GA – With North Georgia just three outs away
from advancing to the PBC Tournament championship game, Augusta
State came alive with three ninth-inning runs to avoid elimination
and force the if-necessary game.
The Jaguars (24-29) live to play another day, forcing the
if-necessary game and setting up a rematch Wednesday evening at
7:00 p.m. at Golden Park. The Saints (34-19) drop their first game
of the tournament, and will now go head-to-head with ASU on
Wednesday for the fifth time this season.
With North Georgia just three outs away from advancing to the
title game, the Jaguars came alive at the plate, using a double
from Colby Adeeb, and an infield single by Caleb Saggus to set up a
sacrifice fly by Jake Sutton to knot the score at 3-3.
Augusta State was far from finished however, as Toorie ripped a
double to the gap in left center and later came around to score on
a Casey Hanrahan to cap a three-run ninth inning and give the
Jaguars a 5-3 come-from-behind victory.
In the early going, the Jaguars jumped on top in the third inning
when Mike Smith led off and walked, and later came around to score
on a Tristan Toorie sacrifice fly to give Augusta State a 1-0
edge.
The ASU lead handed the Saints their first deficit of the
tournament and that deficit doubled in the fifth inning on a single
to the shortstop by Jake Sutton to send Caleb Saggus racing home to
make it 2-0.
North Georgia finally broke through in the sixth inning with a
pair runs to knot the score and put the Saints right back into the
game. Jordan Erisman led off the frame and doubled off the wall in
left center, and Derek Hooper followed with a seeing-eye single
through the right side to cut the ASU in half and make it 2-1.
The Saints then knotted the score when Jaguar pitcher Joah Evans
attempted to pick off Hooper at first and threw it down the first
base line, allowing Hooper to race all the way around to the plate
and even the score at 2-2.
North Georgia then pulled ahead in the seventh inning thanks to a
Chad Sage single through the left side lead off the inning, and
after a sacrifice bunt by Brad Hall, Dustin Carpenter stepped the
dish and lined a single up the middle to send Sage racing for the
plate and give the Saints a 3-2 lead. The one-run lead would not be
enough however, as the Jaguars rallied to shock North Georgia in
the ninth and force the extra game.
Evans (3-6) was the winner for the Jaguars, tossing all 9.0
innings and giving up nine hits, but just three runs. With 114
pitches, the senior tallied two strikeouts and walked one. Jacob
Rickett (6-3) suffered the loss for the Saints, giving up all three
runs in the ninth inning and not striking out a batter.
