ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Augusta Jaguars used their second consecutive comeback effort to down the Flagler Saints 8-5 on Saturday afternoon to take a 2-0 lead in the three-game Peach Belt Conference series.

Augusta (22-11, 13-5 PBC) came back from a 5-0 deficit to the Flagler Saints (18-13, 7-10 PBC) to steal a 7-5 game one victory and rallied from late in game two steal an 8-5 lead.

Senior Drew Taylor was 3-5 with two runs, senior Cole Thompson went 2-4 with an RBI and run, and junior Clint Hardy was 1-3 with two RBI and a run.

The first lead went to Flagler again when they scored three runs in the first inning for the second-straight game. Back-to-back outfield singles off Augusta junior Joey Stillwell put Flagler up 3-0 and the Jags went to sophomore righty David Hagelston in the bullpen midway through the first inning

Stillwell went 0.2 innings in his sixth start, while Hagelston faced 13 batters in his 3.1 innings pitched as the first Jaguar reliever.

Igor Baez knocked a two-run homer down the left-field line for a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning before the Augusta offense produced. In the top of the fourth, C. Thompson scored Taylor for Augusta's first run and senior Hunter Boose lined a single to center to plate junior Tyler Roberts for a 5-2 game in the fifth.

Augusta drew back-to-back hit by pitches with the bases-loaded in the sixth inning to score sophomore Jim Wagner and C. Thompson. Hardy came to the plate and sent one deep enough to record a sacrifice fly that scored senior Nick Rau.

With the game knotted at five apiece, senior Nick Rau belted an RBI double in the seventh inning for a 6-5 go-ahead lead.

After sophomore Jordan Kelly faced one batter in the fifth, sophomore Casey Lenoch came in and went 1.2 innings – striking out one of his nine batters faced while not allowing a run. Lenoch (4-0) got the win to remain all in the win column

The Jaguars put up an insurance run in the eighth inning on a Hardy single and senior Connor Gilbert drove him in with a sacrifice fly for an 8-5 final score.

Right-handed freshman Aron Chick took the mound for the Jags in the seventh inning and held the Saints scoreless to

Game three of the series wraps the series between the Jags and Saints on Sunday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m.

Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.AugustaJags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags

-- 30 --