Augusta baseball sweeps Kentucky Wesleyan in comeback weekend
By Shelbie Summerlin
This past weekend the Augusta University baseball team swept the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers to earn their first three wins of the season.
On Friday, February 9, in the Jaguars' first matchup against the Panthers, Augusta was able to score first and keep it going to win by a score of 9-0.
In the first inning, Parker Ingram homered to push the first three runs across the board.
Augusta (3-4) added two more runs in the fourth on a throwing error before Ingram homered again in the seventh with Kyle Lodise on base to make the score 7-0.
Kentucky Wesleyan allowed Augusta to score two more unearned runs in the eighth inning for the final score to be 9-0.
Ingram led the Jaguars with three hits and five RBIs.
Mason Bernard earned his first win this year, going seven innings and only allowing three hits. He walked one and struck out five.
Augusta and Kentucky Wesleyan played a double-header on Saturday due to incoming weather on Sunday.
In the second contest of the weekend, the Jaguars defeated the Panthers by a score of 17-3 in seven innings.
Kentucky Wesleyan did strike first on Saturday on a solo shot by Cade Moore, but Augusta’s Kyle LaRoche hit a three RBI homer to score Brady Loughren and Koby Ayala in the second inning.
Moore scored in the third again on an RBI single from Braxton French for the Panthers to only be down by one going into the fourth, but the Jaguars exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the inning. The score was 12-2.
Wild pitches and walks combined with two hits, including a Loughren triple, and a sac fly from LaRoche concluded the fourth inning for the Jaguars.
The Panthers added one in the fifth inning on a bases-loaded walk but couldn’t slow down Augusta’s scoring spree.
To start the sixth inning, Lodise hit a home run to make the score 13-3.
LaRoche singled to left field to score J. Ben Haynes before Nolan Turner sealed the 17-run game for the Jaguars with a three RBI home run to score Ayala and Jake Vachon.
LaRoche and Loughren led Augusta with three hits each, with LaRoche having five RBIs.
Will Cantrell got the win for Augusta. He went five innings, striking out five and only allowing three runs on six hits.
In the third and final game of the weekend, Kentucky Wesleyan held Augusta to the least amount of runs scored in any game of the series.
In the second inning, Mike Morrison doubled to score Loughren, and in the sixth inning, Lodise homered with Harrison Aulds on base to make the score 3-0.
The Panthers scratched one on the board in the seventh on a SAC fly from Cade Gudalis to score Bryce Zupan but couldn’t get a comeback going. The Jaguars won 3-1.
Loughren and Morrison led with two hits apiece. Lodise led with two RBIs.
Grayson Hopkins got the third win for Augusta throwing seven innings. He only allowed one run on two hits while striking out seven.
The Jaguars' next competition will be Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Emmanuel. First pitch is at 4 p.m.
Contact Shelbie Summerlin at ssummerlin@augusta.edu.
Right-hander Mason Bernard hurled a three-hitter over seven innings to lead AU to a 9-0 win over Kentucky Wesleyan. (photo by Paula Toole, AU Athletics) At the top of the page, junior Brady Loughren had five hits in seven at-bats on Saturday, including a triple. (photo by Shelbie Summerlin)
Grayson Hopkins threw a two-hitter, striking out seven in a 3-1 win over Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday, Feb. 10. (photo by Shelbie Summerlin)
