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Arestigueta, Late Offense Lead Jackets Past Fireflies
Eighth Inning Explosion Ends Pitchers’ Duel After Starters Shine
COLUMBIA, SC: After seven innings of scoreless baseball, the Augusta GreenJackets (28-24, 63-55) sent eleven men to the plate and scored five in the top of the 8th, pulling away from the Columbia Fireflies (25-27, 59-59) to take a 5-2 win in front of a big crowd Saturday night.
Neither offense could score early on, as both starters were absolutely brilliant at Segra Park. Augusta’s Luis Arestigueta continued the momentum from his last start by firing five more scoreless innings, working out of a pair of early jams to hold the Fireflies off the board. Columbia’s Jose Gutierrez was even better, going seven scoreless for the first time as a pro on just 74 pitches as he induced soft contact early and often against the Jackets.
Despite Gutierrez’s efficiency, Fireflies’ manager David Noworyta elected to pull his starter 15 pitches shy of his season high, and entrust the 8th to the bullpen. That decision would immediately backfire, as Justin LeGuernic allowed five straight baserunners, all of whom would score. Matt Scannell led off the frame with a two-strike double, before taking third on an infield single and scoring on Manuel Campos’ RBI knock.
The Jackets continued to press runners across against Leguernic, and even when Yeri Perez came on to play fireman. Augusta scored on two bases-loaded walks, a sacrifice fly from Cooper McMurray, and a double steal to post their biggest inning of the week and create a large advantage.
The five-run lead would be enough, as Nico Wagner carved through four strong innings in his Single-A debut to pick up his first professional win. Wagner was hitless in his first two innings behind Arestigueta, and though a bit of trouble in the 8th saw him surrender two runs, he was able to right the ship and hold the Columbia offense at bay in their final two chances to secure the victory.
The win was a huge weight off the back of the GreenJackets, who had lost three straight after sweeping the doubleheader that opened the series. Augusta and Columbia have each won three of six games this series, with one last meeting for the year scheduled for tomorrow night at 5:05 PM. Brody Fowler makes his fourth start with the GreenJackets, looking to put a homer-heavy outing from last week in the rearview mirror opposite Darwin Rodriguez.
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