AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Augusta Jaguars started the 2016 season on Saturday afternoon at Lake Olmstead Stadium and dropped a 7-2 non-conference game to the Florida Southern Moccasins.

Augusta (0-1, 0-0 PBC) returns to Lake Olmstead Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 31 to wrap the series with the FSC Mocs (1-0, 0-0 SSC) at 1:00 p.m.

Senior Hunter Boose went 3-4 with an RBI, while seniors Conner Gilbert and Nick Rau each knocked two hits in the loss. Junior preseason All-American Clint Hardy went 1-4 with a walk.

Augusta went to senior righty David Bermudez to start the season on the mound the Jags. He piped a first-pitch strike to get the 2016 season underway. The FSC Mocs put together three hits for three runs in the first and a two-run homer from Logan Browning in the second boosted the lead to 5-0.

Junior right-hander Tristan Jones came in from the bullpen in the top of the third. The Mocs maintained momentum in the fourth when an RBI single plated two runs off Jones.

The Jags broke the drought in the bottom of the fourth when Gilbert stretched an opposite-field hit into a sliding double, before senior Nick Rau brought him with a liner up the middle for a 7-1 score.

Bermudez (0-1) logged 2.0 innings of work and allowed five runs, while Tr. Jones tossed 3.1 innings and gave up two runs on four hits with one strikeout.

Augusta escaped the sixth inning unscathed after senior CJ Reed came in from the bullpen and got an inning-ending double play on one pitch. In the Mocs' next at bat, they threatened with another deep ball to left field, but Jaguar sophomore Jim Wagner robbed the homer at the wall with a leaping grab.

Gilbert scored his second run for Augusta in the eighth on Boose's double to right field. FSC senior starter Ben Richardson (1-0) pitched 7.0 innings and surrendered one run on six hits while striking out four in the Mocs' win.

Augusta returns to Lake Olmstead Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 31 to conclude the non-conference series with the Florida Southern Mocs at 1:00 p.m.

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