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COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University baseball team opened up their Peach Belt Conference play with a 5-1 win over Augusta. The game took place at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field. 

All-American Kolton Ingram got the nod to open the series and continued his run of dominance on the mound against the Jaguars. Last season, Ingram pitched a 15-strikeout shutout to defeat Augusta and followed it up Friday giving up just one run while grabbing 13 strikeouts. 

"He (Ingram) pitched a great game, he was in control the entire time," head coach Greg Appleton said. "All we needed was a couple of runs and we were able to take advantage of some wild pitching. You won't see that every game but I told them team we'll take what we can get and move on to the next one."

Ingram (3-0) retired six of the first seven batters he faced as he consistently put himself ahead in the pitching counts. After striking out the side in the fifth inning, Ingram went to the dugout with nine strikeouts at the time. 

The Cougars took full advantage of miscues from the Jaguars Friday night as Augusta finished with three errors as well as numerous wild pitches that resulted in Cougar runs. In the second inning with runners on second and third, Chase Brown came home to score via a wild pitch and then an error from the catcher allowed Matthew McDade to trot in making it 3-0. 

The wild pitches continued into the fifth inning where four wild pitches eventually pushed two more Cougars runs across the plate giving them a 5-0 lead. 

The five run lead would be more than enough for Ingram on the mound. The senior notched two more strikeouts in the sixth and eighth innings to give him 13 on the night before Devin Dudal finished out the Cougar win in the ninth. 

The win makes it the eighth in a row for Columbus State after dropping four of their first six contests. 

McDade finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a double while Brown drew three walks before coming home to score two runs. 

The Cougars will play a doubleheader Saturday, March 2^nd to finish out their opening conference series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Burger King Stadium.