Richard Carves Through Charleston as Augusta Splits Series
North Augusta, SC: Kendy Richard allowed just one hit in five scoreless innings, picking up his first Single-A victory as Augusta came from behind to knock off the Charleston RiverDogs 7-3 Sunday afternoon.
Both offenses got started quickly, with each starter allowing a solo home run in their first inning of work. Charleston (20-13) took the lead two batters into the game, as Dean Moss went the other way against Davis Polo for the advantage. Augusta (17-16) responded immediately in the bottom of the first, with Tate Southisene leading off the bottom half with an emphatic home run off the apartment buildings to tie the game.
Both starters settled in after that, with Charleston going scoreless in the next two innings before retaking the lead in the 4th. The RiverDogs flipped four singles off of Polo, with RBI knocks from Jose Monzon and Daniel Pierce pushing Charleston back in front in Polo's final inning.
Augusta got a run back in the bottom of the fourth against Trey Pooser, loading the bases on two singles and a walk before Joe Olsavsky looped a sacrifice fly to right. The Jackets would tie the game in similar fashion in the 6th against the bullpen, putting two on against Jacob Kuhn before John Estevez greeted Dylan Lesko with a sac fly to deep left to tie the game.
Richard cruised through three perfect frames from the fifth through the seventh, and the Jackets snatched the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh. Luis Guanipa capped a three-hit day with a titanic blast off of Lesko, the first hit Lesko had allowed since April 9th. Lesko then hit Nick Montgomery before a Juan Mateo single ended his day, and Dalton McIntyre put the game out of reach with a three-run shot off of Yereny Teus for a 7-3 lead.
Richard worked around his only two baserunners of the day in the 8th, and secured his longest outing of the year and first scoreless showing of 2026 in one great day. The GreenJackets responded to the no-hitter Friday with back-to-back big offensive outputs, and split the series with an impressive RiverDogs squad that sits in first place in the division.
Augusta takes a well-earned day off tomorrow, and then heads to the coast for a six-game series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The Pelicans had canceled games the last two days, and will enter the series with the GreenJackets well-rested and looking to stay above .500 on the year.