Game 1 | Game 2

AUGUSTA, GA – The North Georgia baseball team split a doubleheader at Augusta State on Saturday afternoon, rallying to take game one 8-7 in 10 innings, before the Jags came out on top 4-2 in the nightcap in Peach Belt Conference action.

The Saints move to 28-14 overall on the season and 14-9 in Peach Belt Conference action, while the Jaguars are now 15-26 on the year and 5-15 in league action.

In game one, just when North Georgia looked to be down and out heading to the ninth inning down 7-3, the bats came alive with four run on five hits to force extra innings.

Jordan Erisman, Anders Oster, and Chad Sage all notched clutch RBI hits in the inning to force the extra frame where the Saints used a hit batter to lead off the inning and Craig Brisson followed with the game-winning base knock to bring Lance Pope racing home.

Augusta State jumped out on top in the second inning for the game’s first run, but the Saints responded and took their first lead of the contest with a two spot in the fourth inning. Oster launched a solo home run to right center to knot the score at a run apiece, and the Jaguar defense came into play for a pair of errors to bring home an unearned run and give the Saints a 2-1 advantage.

The Jags then rallied late to take the lead, using a three-run blast from Cole Payne to put ASU back on top in the seventh, and Justin Appel followed suite with a three-run bomb in the eighth to stretch the lead to 7-3 and set up North Georgia’s comeback win.

Justin Yackee (3-0) picked up the win in relief, tossing 2.0 innings and allowing three runs on four hits, while Jacob Rickett came on in the ninth and slammed the door, not allowing a hit and striking out one for his ninth save of the season.

The same heroes came to the forefront in game two as Payne single home the first run of the game for ASU in the fourth inning, while Tony Baker followed with an RBI hit of his own later in the frame as part of a two-run inning. The Jaguars added two more run sin the sixth inning as Appel lined a two-out double to left field to send Augusta State out to a 4-0 lead.

The Saints answered in the seventh inning with two runs as Erisman doubled home a run to send Brisson racing to the plate, and Chad Sage singled to left later in the inning to plate Erisman and pull North Georgia within two runs at 4-2, a score that held true to the final out.

Blake Hobby (5-4) suffered the loss, allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits in 7.0 innings of work. The sophomore walked three and struck out five in the losing effort.

The Saints and Jags will play the rubber game of the weekend series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m.