AU baseball team falls to Francis Marion late in a high-scoring battle after taking series from N. Georgia
By Chris Rickerson | Sports editor
Augusta University’s baseball lost to Francis Marion in a 12-10 slugfest on Wednesday, April 20 at Jaguar Field.
The Jaguars are coming off a series win against North Georgia before the Francis Marion game.
Wednesday’s game would be a bullpen game for the Jaguars as left-handed pitcher Dominic Canale started on the mound against right-hander Austin Moore.
AU struck first with a two-run homer by Walker Sinclair to give the Jaguars a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Corey Schneider replaced Canale in the top of the second inning. The Patriots took a 5-2 after a two RBI single by Isaac Schuck and a two RBI double by Bill Hanna.
AU grabbed the lead right back in the bottom of the second, adding 5 runs of their own to give the Jaguars a 7-5 lead. Ben Markiewicz brought in four of the five runs, hitting a grandslam.
Francis Marion gained one run back in the top of the third inning with an RBI single by Lex Tuten.
Harrison Aulds hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Jaguars’ lead to 9-6.
The Patriots battled back in the top of the eighth inning with a two RBI double Will Hardee, an RBI double by Naphis Llanos and a RBI single by Todd Mattox, giving Francis Marion the 10-9 lead.
Aulds tied the game 10-10 in the bottom of the eighth, scoring off a wild pitch.
In the top of the ninth inning, Llanos once again came up big with a two-run single, giving the Patriots the victory.
Nick Palumbo got the win for the Patriots and Ben Thornton finished the game with the save.
Jasper Dubberly got loss for the Jaguars, giving up the late two runs.
Hardee led the Patriots in the hit column with three hits and four RBIs.
Mason Robertson led the Jaguars at the plate with three hits. Aulds finished with two hits and three runs.
Against North Georgia, Augusta won two out of three to improve to 6-16 in the Peach Belt. Chase Horton allowed six hits and just two runs in a 5-2 AU win in the second game. The Jaguars scored three in the ninth to the win the finale 9-7. Lukas Coker and Kyle LaRoche each hit three-run homers for AU, while Aulds had a triple.
AU will now go on to play Georgia Southwestern University in there last road series of the season. The three-game series will begin on Friday, April 22, at 6 p.m. The Jaguars will finish off the series the following day in a doubleheader with the first game beginning at 1 p.m., followed by the final game at 4 p.m.
After two non-conference games, Augusta closes out the season with a home series against Georgia College. The Jaguars currently sit in ninth place in the PBC standings, three games behind eighth-place Lander. The top eight teams make the playoffs.
Contact Chris Rickerson at crickerson@augusta.edu.
AU’s Harrison Aulds (8) eyes a pitch on which he hit a home run for the Jaguars in their 12-10 loss to Francis Marion. At the top of the page, Code Schneider delivers a pitch. (photos by Chris Rickerson)
Skylor Murphy (1) had a double and scored a run for AU, which at least needs series wins in its last two Peach Belt Conference series of the regular season to advance to the Peach Belt Tournament. (photo by Madison Keel)
