AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Augusta State freshman righthander Patrick Lowe fired a complete-game four-hitter in his first career start Tuesday afternoon, leading the Jaguars past Belmont Abbey 9-4 at Lake Olmstead Stadium.

Sophomore rightfielder Shannon Wilkerson slammed a three-run homer and fellow sophomore Alex Sickman ripped a solo shot for the Jaguars. Wilkerson went 3-for-5 and Sickman and senior first baseman Kevin Owens were 2-for-3.

A freshman from Port Charlotte, Fla., Lowe (1-0) allowed four unearned runs in the first and second innings as the Jaguar defense committed a pair of errors behind him. He then settled down, and the Jaguar bats came to life.

ASU answered the Crusaders’ pair of runs with four of their own in the bottom of the first. BAC starter David Koppenheffer (0-1) walked five batters in the inning and freshman Alex Walker’s single put the Jags ahead 4-2.

The Abbey answered with two runs in the second and the score remained tied until Sickman’s leadoff homer in the fourth. Wilkerson’s three-run shot three batters later gave ASU an 8-4 cushion.

The Jags tacked on a run in the seventh on an Owens’ RBI-groundout that plated Tyler Marzofka, who reached on an infield single to start the inning.

Six pitchers saw action for the Crusaders, who fell to 4-5 with the loss. No player for the Abbey had more than one hit.

ASU returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 16 when it hosts Valdosta State in a three-game, non-conference series at Lake Olmstead Stadium. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 12 noon, while Sunday’s matchup is slated for a 12:30 p.m. start.

2008 AUGUSTA STATE BASEBALL
Belmont Abbey at Augusta State
02/12/08 at Augusta, Ga. (Lake Olmstead Stad.)

Belmont Abbey 4 (4-5)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Alex Castellanos 2b......  4  1  0  0   0  0  2  2   0
Tyler McKenzie lf........  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
Will Breslin 1b..........  4  1  1  1   0  1  8  0   1
Seth Waller rf...........  2  0  1  0   2  0  2  0   0
Jay McConnell dh.........  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
Carlos Vasquez ss........  3  1  0  0   1  1  0  3   0
Chris Vazquez c..........  2  1  0  0   0  0  6  1   0
Justin Vasquez cf........  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   2
Elio Rey 3b..............  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
David Koppenheffer p.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Brett DiPasquale p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Evan Jonas p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Trey Summerlin p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 Tyler Powell p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Andrew Morton p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 30  4  4  1   3  2 24 10   4

Augusta State 9 (4-4)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Bryson Smith 3b..........  0  1  0  0   1  0  0  1   0
 Clay Haynes 3b..........  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Kevin Owens 1b...........  3  2  2  1   2  0 11  0   0
Shannon Wilkerson rf.....  5  2  3  3   0  1  7  1   1
David Barnes dh..........  4  0  1  1   1  0  0  0   0
Jorge Virguez 2b.........  4  0  0  0   1  1  2  3   0
Tony Baker ss............  3  1  0  0   1  0  2  8   0
Alex Walker lf...........  4  0  1  1   0  1  2  0   3
Tyler Marzofka cf........  3  1  1  0   1  1  1  0   2
Alex Sickman c...........  3  1  2  1   0  1  2  0   2
Patrick Lowe p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 32  9 10  7   7  6 27 14   9

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Belmont Abbey....... 220 000 000 -  4  4  2
Augusta State....... 400 400 10X -  9 10  2
-------------------------------------------

E - Waller; J. Vasquez; B. Smith 2. DP - Crusaders 1; Jaguars 1. LOB -
Crusaders 4; Jaguars 9. 2B - Sickman(3). HR - Wilkerson(3); Sickman(2). HBP
- Vazquez 2; Haynes; Baker; Sickman. CS - Owens.

Belmont Abbey          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
David Koppenheffer..  1.0  2  4  2  5  1  4  9
Brett DiPasquale....  3.0  4  4  4  1  2 13 15
Evan Jonas..........  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  4  4
Trey Summerlin......  1.0  2  0  0  1  1  4  6
Tyler Powell........  1.0  1  1  1  0  1  4  5
Andrew Morton.......  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  3  3

Augusta State          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Patrick Lowe........  9.0  4  4  0  3  2 30 35

Win - Lowe (1-0).  Loss - DiPasquale (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - Powell. HBP - by Lowe (Vazquez); by DiPasquale (Haynes); by Lowe (Vazquez);
by Summerlin (Baker); by Powell (Sickman).
Umpires - HP: Tom Haight  1B: Gordon Hammond
Start: 2:00 pm   Time: 2:45   Attendance: 132