AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta State avenged its Feb. 14 loss to Anderson with a 9-5 comeback win Tuesday night in a non-conference game against the Trojans at Lake Olmstead Stadium .
Down 5-3, ASU (10-17) rallied for three runs against AU (8-22) when Nate Crown hit a sac fly and Hunter Boose belted his third hit of the night to left field. Freshman Justin Mee RBI-doubled to center field for a 6-5 ASU lead in the sixth inning. Jeff Rice singled to load the bases in the seventh and a hit by pitch scored one, before Boose's two-RBI double took a 9-5 lead.
Freshman Phil Dukes (2-0) relieved ASU starter Clint Echols in the sixth inning to retire the side on a looking strikeout. Dukes pitched 4.0 innings to close out the game for one hit and zero runs in the win.
Stephen McKnight started for the Trojans in 5.0 innings, before Will Walls (0-2) entered to get the loss in 0.1 innings on three earned runs off four hits.
Boose went 4-for-5, Rice was 3-for-4 and Foster and Ross Miles each went 2-for-4.
Boose ripped a single to start the game and senior Seth Foster doubled off the left-field chalk to score the runner for an early lead over the Trojans. The Jaguars added in the second after the two leadoff men reached and junior Nate Crown scored Justin Mee with an RBI-single to right center. With runners on the corners a failed pickoff attempt scored Jeff Rice to put ASU on top 2-0, before the Trojans responded for four.
The Jags host Newberry tomorrow in a non-conference matchup at 6:00 p.m., at Lake Olmstead Stadium. Live stats will be available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/jaguars/.