AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta State broke a 5-all tie with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and made it stand up for an 8-6 Senior Day victory over non-conference foe Erskine Thursday afternoon at Jaguar Field.
ASU (22-27) fell behind 2-0 to the No. 26 Flying Fleet over the first two innings before knotting the game at 2-all in the second on senior outfielder Matt Debes’ two-run double to right-centerfield.
The Jaguars took a 5-2 lead an inning later when senior third baseman Jorge Virguez reached on a leadoff single and junior Shannon Wilkerson walked. Senior leftfielder Tim Rawlings’ sacrifice bunt turned into a pair of ASU runs after a throwing error by Erskine reliever Chris Hall (Batesburg-Leesville, SC, Batesburg-Leesville HS) allowed both Virguez and Wilkerson to score. A wild pitch from Hall allowed Rawlings to race home.
The Fleet (35-15) answered back with three runs in their half of the fifth. ASU junior reliever Carl Burrow hit Cody McElhaney (Beech Island, SC, Midland Valley HS) to start the inning and walked Zach McCarthy (Spartanburg, SC, Byrnes HS) before surrendering a three-run homer by Greg Huff (McDonough, GA, Henry County High School) to left field.
Wilkerson put the Jags back in front in the fifth with his 19th homer of the season – a line-drive shot to right field -- and senior first baseman Kevin Owens slapped an RBI-single to score Tristan Toorie.
Erskine pulled within 7-6 on Mo Seay (Anderson, SC, Wofford College) leadoff homer in the sixth. The Jags pushed their advantage to 8-6 in the seventh on a double by Toorie and a Debes’ RBI-grounder.
Burrow (1-1) logged his first win of the season as ASU used eight different pitchers. Senior lefty Ben Dukes earned the starting nod and was charged with a hit and a run in his one inning of work. Only senior lefty Adam Mathis went more than one inning. Debes tallied a team-high three RBI while Toorie went 3-for-3 and scored three runs. Virguez and Owens each collected a pair of hits and Wilkerson scored two runs.
Hall (0-1) took the loss for the Flying Fleet, allowing three hits and two runs. Starter Jarett Miller (Easley, SC, Easley HS) went the first 2.0 innings, yielding three hits and five runs – two earned – with three walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Huff, Hill and Seay had two hits each for Erskine, and Huff scored a pair of runs.
Box Score
