Rome 6, Savannah 3

he Rome Braves overcame a 3-0 deficit with three runs in the eighth, then beat the Savannah Sand Gnats on Josh Elander’s walkoff homer in the ninth for a 6-3 victory Sunday.

With the game tied at 3 and one down in the bottom of the ninth, the Braves’ Felix Marte doubled to center. Savannah reliever Bret Mitchell (first blown save) then walked Eric Garica. Ronald Luna’s groundout moved the runners one base each, then Elander smacked his 10th homer of the season for a three-run victory.

Rome (34-28) rallied in the eighth, beginning with Luna’s leadoff double and Elander’s RBI single off reliever Hunter Carnevale. Mitchell entered and yielded a single to Trenton Moses, who was removed for pinch runner Carlos Franco.

Levi Hyams’ RBI single scored Elander and moved Franco to third. Casey Kalenkosky grounded into double play as Franco scored the tying run.

Savannah (37-25) scored all of its runs in the seventh inning. Jeff Reynolds left off with a double, and Phillip Evans walked. Both runners advanced on Rome catcher Kalenkosky’s passed ball.

After Eudy Pina grounded out, Brandon Nimmo hit an RBI double to center, scoring Reynolds and moving Evans to third base.

Carlos Perez’s wild pitch plated Evans, and Nimmo advanced to third. Jayce Boyd then singled Nimmo home. Perez struck out Kevin Plawecki and Stefan Sabol to end the inning.

Rome threatened to score in the fifth when Tyler Tewell tried to score from second on Garcia’s single. However, center fielder Nimmo’s throw home to Plawecki got Tewell at the plate.

The Sand Gnats fell into a tie for first place with Charleston (35-23), which beat Asheville 5-2 on Sunday. Asheville visits the Sand Gnats at 7:05 p.m. today at Grayson Stadium.

Key Stats

Brandon Nimmo: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R

Jeff Reynolds: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Stefan Sabol: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 SB

Luis Cessa: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 6 K

Hunter Carnevale: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 K

Bret Mitchell: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 ER

(Team Report)