ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Flagler swept a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader from Augusta State Saturday afternoon at Drysdale Field.
The twinbill marked the conference opener for both teams.
The Saints (5-4, 2-0 PBC) got a dominant pitching effort from Jonathan Armold (2-1) in game one en route to a 4-0 win. FC. He yielded only two hits in 7.0 innings and struck out eight against three walks.
ASU junior righthander Scott Shipman (0-2) was charged with seven hits and three earned runs allowed in 6.0 innings with a pair of strikeouts and three walks. Aaron Lewis went 1.2 innings and gave up two hits and an earned run with four strikeouts. Kyle Golden came on to get the last out for the Jags.
Matt Smith went 2-for-3 for ASU (5-5, 0-2 PBC) and Caleb Saggus and Seth Foster combined for other hits for the Jags.
Charlie Stewart paced the Saints with a 3-for-4 effort and drove in a pair of runs.
In the second game, the Jags jumped ahead 2-0 in the top of the first before FC countered with three runs of its own. The Saints added three runs in the second for a 6-2 lead before ASU erupted for six runs in the fifth. Sophomore outfielder Clay Tucker jacked a 3-run homer to highlight the inning as the Jags pulled ahead 8-6.
The Saints tied the game at 8-all with two runs in the sixth, then added single runs in the seventh and eighth for a 10-8 victory.
Tucker had half of ASU's hits, going 2-for-4. Foster and sophomore shortstop Kevin Dodson accounted for the Jags' other hits and each player had an RBI.
Sophomore lefthander Kip Custer worked the first 1.2 innings for ASU, surrendering seven hits and six runs (four earned) with a strikeout. Chase Johnston went 1.1 innings, followed by 3.0 innings from Wilson Taylor, and an inning each from Matt Blume (0-1) and Tyler Ross. Blame took the loss, giving up four hits and two earned runs while striking out one.
ASU will try to avoid the sweep when the teams meet on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The start time, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m., has been moved back an hour to avoid forecasted inclement weather.
