Patriots push past Jaguars in double-header

The FMU baseball team earned their third Peach Belt Conference (PBC) win on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Sparrow Stadium against the Augusta University Jaguars. The games were a part of the three-game Pepsi Pop-Off Series. The Patriots made their first PBC win on Friday, Feb. 9 (7-4) and won both of their games on Feb. 10, the first 6-4 and the second 6-5. The games on Saturday were also a part of the 2018 FMU Homecoming festivities.

The second game started out with early momentum from the Patriots, scoring two points in the bottom of the first inning with a home run from junior catcher Alex Griffith, who created an RBI for junior infielder Steven Cox who had a single play earlier.

The Jaguars rallied and were able to match the Patriots in the third inning, with each team putting one point on the scoreboard. Junior outfielder Bakari Gayle came out with a home run in the top of the third inning for the Jaguars, and junior outfielder Gage Taylor scored in the bottom of the third to match for the Patriots.

The Patriots came out on top after the fourth inning with one point scored by senior first-baseman Trey Chapman off of a single hit into left field by sophomore infielder/outfielder Patrick Jackson. The fifth inning saw points by both teams, with one point scored on an error in the top of the fifth by senior catcher Brent Alford for the Jaguars, and with a single by senior catcher William Robbins, which allowed Taylor to run home for the Patriots.

The Patriots and the Jaguars went scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings, but the Jaguars caught a stride in the eighth, with a run scored by junior outfielder Devin Bilardello off of a throwing error by the Patriots. The Jaguars made two more runs in the top of the ninth inning, tying the game up at 5-5. FMU’s Chapman was able to bring home the win in the bottom of the ninth off of a RBI single made by Cox.

Game leaders for the Patriots included players such as Griffith with two RBI’s and the only home run for the home team. Pitching performances included Arien Seymour, who pitched 7.1 out of the 9 innings of play, and Evan Flynn, pitched 1.2; 58 out of 102 pitches of Seymour’s were strikes, while Flynn made 21 strikes out of 31 pitches.