AUGUSTA, Ga. – Brac Barton fought off an inside fastball, and it landed harmlessly in left field to score Ross Miles and give Augusta State a 10-9 Peach Belt Conference victory over Georgia College Sunday afternoon.
Miles had led off the bottom of the ninth by reaching on an error, and moved to second on Caleb Saggus' one-out sacrifice bunt. Georgia College made a pitching change, prompting head coach Chris Cooper to pinch-hit Barton for a righty-vs.-lefty matchup that went ASU's way.
The game was a back-and-forth slugfest.
The Jaguars jumped on the board in the first, putting two across on Justin Appel's two-out, bases-loaded single back up the middle that plated Bradley Dennis and Jeff Rice.
Georgia College knotted things up in the third, getting one on a fielder's choice with runners and second and third, and another on an RBI single by Cody Maas.
But ASU immediately answered with four in the bottom of the inning. Kevin Dodson started things with a one-out single. Matt Smith's two-out single through the left side pushed Dodson to third, where he would score on a wild pitch. Miles walked, putting runners on the corners. Bryson Stack followed with a single to right that was misplayed and made it to the outfield fence, allowing Stack to race all around to home for a 6-2 ASU lead.
GC tied it up with four in the top of the fourth, highlighted by Patrick Daugherty's RBI triple down the right field line.
The teams traded runs in the sixth before the Jaguars put across one in the seventh on Caleb Saggus' infield single to score Preston Pye for an 8-7 lead.
But the Bobcats answered again, using a Bryce Williams home run to take their first lead of the game at 9-8. Jeff Rice responded with a bomb of his own, his team-leading sixth for a solo shot to tie things up and set up the final inning.
Clint Echols (2-0) hurled a scoreless ninth for the win. Zack Hula (2-1) took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) in 3 2/3 innings of relief.
Five Jaguar hitters had two hits on the day: Saggus, Dennis, Appel, Dodson, and Rice. Bryce Williams led the Bobcat attack with a 3-for-4 effort.
The Jaguars are back in action Tuesday, April 17 as they head to Armstrong Atlantic for a single game before traveling to USC Aiken Wednesday, April 18 beginning at 6:30 p.m. for game two of the Outback Cup.
ASU took game one of the Outback Cup 12-7 in late March.
