Jaguars' rally falls short against Shorter Hawks
By Nayla Reese | Sports Editor
Augusta University fell to Shorter University 10-7 on Tuesday afternoon at Jaguar Field, snapping the Jaguars’ four-game winning streak.
The Hawks came in hot, building a 4-0 lead by the top of the third inning, scoring their first run in the second episode after Isaiah Sims crossed the plate. The first run prompted Augusta to change pitchers in the second. The Jags responded in the bottom half of the third when Aidan Cannaday launched his first solo home run of the day to put the Jaguars on the board.
Momentum continued to build as Mattheson Go delivered a two-run single to cut the deficit to 4-3, and Nolan Turner followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 4-4. Augusta pressed Shorter to change pitchers after allowing the Jags to crawl back into the game.
Augusta carried that energy into the fourth inning when Jake Vachon reached base and later scored on a Jakob Cowart single, giving the Jaguars a 5-4 lead.
The game shifted in the sixth inning as Shorter plated five runs, all against Riley Akins, including a grand slam, to reclaim control at 9-5. Akins was unable to record an out before getting the ball taken away from him by Coach Howell. Augusta would come back in to close the gap when Cannaday answered again in the bottom of the inning with his second solo home run of the afternoon to keep Augusta within reach.
The Jaguars added one final run in the seventh as Turner came around to score on a double play ball, but the rally would fall short as Shorter swooped back in with another home run by Drake Cobb to secure the 10-7 victory.
Cannaday finished with two home runs while Cowart collected five hits in the loss.
Augusta now moves to 7-5 on the season and will travel to Bluffton, S.C. to face USC Beaufort in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Contact Nayla Reese at nayreese@augusta.edu.
Mattheson Go gets ready to consume his at-bat. Go recorded a key two-run single in the third inning that was part of the first comeback attempt of the game.
At the top of the page, Aiden Cannaday rounds the bases and celebrates his first solo shot of the evening with his teammates. (photos by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)
Below, Aiden Cannaday hits his second dinger of the day. (video by Lauren Nelson/the Bell Ringer)
