LAKEWOOD, N.J. — Jayce Boyd had three hits and drove in four runs as the Savannah Sand Gnats defeated Lakewood 6-4 on Saturday.
Savannah (9-7) scored in five straight innings — from the third to seventh — to overcome an early deficit and finally pull away from Lakewood.
Boyd’s two-run single in the sixth inning put the Gnats ahead for good after Lakewood tied the game in the fifth on an RBI double by Art Charles.
Boyd drove in the Gnats’ first run with a ground out. In the fifth, he doubled in Brandon Nimmo, who led off the inning with a walk.
The Gnats drew eight walks in the game and four of those runners scored.
The offensive support made a winner of Savannah starter Rainy Lara, who allowed 11 hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings.
With the tying runs in scoring position and one out in the sixth, reliever Hunter Carnevale replaced Lara and struck out Roman Quinn and got Angelo Mora to bounce out to end the inning.
Jake Kuebler had two scoreless innings, and Bret Mitchell pitched a one-two-three ninth to record his first save.
Savannah and Lakewood finish their four-game series today at 1:05 p.m.
The Gnats return home Tuesday for a 7:05 p.m. contest against Delmarva.
Savannah ab r h bi Lakewood ab r h bi
Zurcher 2b 3 1 0 0 Quinn ss 5 1 1 1
Nimmo cf 3 2 1 0 Mora 2b 5 1 2 0
Boyd 1b 4 0 3 4 Greene lf 5 0 1 0
Plawecki dh 4 0 1 0 Charles 1b 4 0 1 1
Glenn c 5 0 0 0 Walding 3b 3 0 1 0
Sabol lf 4 1 0 0 Tocci cf 4 0 0 0
Frenzel 3b 4 2 1 0 Taylor rf 4 2 2 0
Evans ss 1 0 0 0 Villalobos dh 4 0 2 1
DeLaCruz 2b 2 0 2 0 Numata c 4 0 2 1
Pina rf 4 0 0 1
Savannah 001 112 100 —6
Lakewood 001 011 000 —4
E—Quinn. LOB—Savannah 10, Lakewood 9. 2B—Plawecki, De La Cruz, Boyd, Frenzel, Taylor, Walding, Mora, Charles, Numata. 3B—Nimmo. HR—Quinn (2). S—De La Cruz. SB—Zurcher. CS—Greene.
SAVANNAH IP H R ER BB SO
Lara W,2-1 5 1/3 11 4 4 1 2
Carnevale 2/3 0 0 0 0 1
Kuebler 2 1 0 0 1 3
Mitchell S,1 1 0 0 0 0 1
LAKEWOOD IP H R ER BB SO
Warner 5 5 3 3 4 6
Stefan L,0-2 1 1 2 2 3 0
Santos 3 2 1 0 1 2
WP—Warner, Stefan. T—2:56. A—4,008.