AUGUSTA, Ga. - The No. 8 Columbus State University baseball team bashed five home runs to begin a 3-game Peach Belt Conference series with a 12-5 win over Augusta University on Saturday.
With the win, CSU head coach
Greg Appleton collected his 1,000th career win between his time at Columbus State and Young Harris College.
"Glad that we got the win out there today," said Appleton. "It wasn't a sure thing, but glad we got those insurance runs late."
Columbus State (21-4, 6-1 PBC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one on a solo homer from
Colby Brabston and an RBI single from
Win Johns.
However, Augusta came right back with two of its own in the first and two more in the third to grab a 4-2 lead.
Brabston grabbed his second RBI of the day in the fourth, while the Cougars went back up 5-4 in the fifth.
Derek Wylie tied the game with a groundout before
Matthew McDade cranked his ninth homer of the year.
After Brabston put the Cougars ahead 6-4, the Jaguars made it a 1-run game. However, CSU reliever Austin Elliot got out of a jam to keep Columbus State on top.
Columbus State kept flexing its muscles late in the game, adding a single run in the eighth before Brabston, Robert Books and
Steven Minter hit back-to-back-to-back homers to push the margin to 12-5.
The Cougars tallied 20 hits on the afternoon, with Brooks going 4-for-6 with a double, homer and three runs scored. Minter (3-for-4, solo HR) joined Brabston (3-for-5) with three hits.
Devin Dudal (5-2) grabbed the win after pitching 5.2 innings. He struck out six in the performance.
Logan Seehafer picked up his second save of the year after a multi-inning appearance. Elliot tossed two scoreless innings.
UP NEXT
Columbus State and Augusta wrap up the series with a doubleheader beginning at noon on Sunday. The two teams were set to play two on Saturday, however, field conditions forced the change.
COUGAR NOTES
• Brooks moved into fourth all-time in PBC history with 53 homers. He is second all-time in CSU history
• The fiver homers tied a season-high for CSU (Point - 3/2/22)
• The six RBIs are a career-high for Brabston. It was also his first multi-homer game in his career
• CSU has won 10 of its last 11 games
• Dudal picked up his 16th career win
• Columbus State has won 14 straight against Augusta and 27 of the last 29 meetings. The Cougars are 101-23 all-time against AU
