Wednesday July 1, 2009

Augusta, GA – Kyle Nicholson, in one of his best starts of the year, held the Lexington Legends to just two runs through eight innings but it was not enough for the Augusta GreenJackets in a 2-1 loss to the Legends at Lake Olmstead Stadium on Wednesday night.

With the game knotted at one in the fifth, Nicholson’s one mistake came when Jay Austin’s third hit of the night traveled over the fence in right-center, a solo home run off the scoreboard to give the Legends a lead they wouldn’t lose. Austin’s first home run of the year held up as the Jackets had runners on in all but one inning but they didn’t capitalize.

Augusta’s lone run in the contest came on the second hit of the first inning. Andy D’Alessio’s two-out single plated Charlie Culberson to give the GreenJackets the early edge. They would strand just seven runners all night because only once did they have more than one on base in any given inning.

Nicholson (4-7) did what he could otherwise to keep Lexington off the board. He delivered eight innings of two-run baseball on six hits with a walk and a season-high nine strikeouts. Only one of the runs against Nicholson was earned. Nicholson has now thrown seven or more innings in 10 of his last 11 starts.