RiverDogs Snap Skid with Rain-Shortened 2-1 Victory

By: RiverDogs Media

The Charleston RiverDogs were in search of a victory of any kind on Saturday evening. Lightning and heavy rain caused their contest with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans to be shortened to five innings. At the time the contest entered a delay, the RiverDogs held a 2-1 lead and thus, earned a victory to end a four-game losing streak. Cooper Kinney was at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom half of the inning, when lightning struck near the ballpark and caused the umpires to wave the teams off the field. The game was attended by 4,434.

The RiverDogs (7-13) had several opportunities with men on base throughout the first four innings of the contest, but managed only single runs in the third and fourth. A groundout by Odalys Peguero had stranded the bases loaded in the first and back-to-back strikeouts from Myrtle Beach starter Koen Moreno left three on base in the second.

Charleston was finally able to cash in during the third.Kinney opened that stanza with a double to right field. Kamren James drove him in immediately with a base hit to left, and the RiverDogs were on the board. Moreno was removed when he followed with consecutive walks, but reliever Jose Romero helped him out of trouble.

In the fourth, the RiverDogs again loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter. Another walk to Odalys Peguero forced in the second run and finished off the home team’s scoring.

Myrtle Beach (11-8) could not tally until the fifth and final frame. The Pelicans had stranded eight men on base through the first four innings, when they broke through against Samuel Mejia. The RiverDogs reliever, who arrived in town a few hours before the game, allowed a leadoff home run to Moises Ballesteros that cut the lead in half. Mejia hit Felix Stevens with a pitch in the next at-bat and Jefferson Encarnacion followed with a single to move the tying run into scoring position. Miguel Pabon put down a sacrifice bunt back to the mound and the Pelicans had men on second and third. Mejia bore down and struck out the next two hitters to preserve the lead right before the weather arrived.

Kikito Severino, first out of the bullpen, earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings. Mejia collected a save while racking up three strikeouts. Opener Jeff Hakanson struck out the side in the first inning to leave men on the corners.

Kinney finished the abbreviated game 2-2 with a double. Ballesteros was the lone Pelicans hitter with multiple knocks, also closing the night 2-2 with the home runs and RBI.

Ballpark Fun

On Italian Plumbers Night, the RiverDogs paid tribute to the popular video games featuring Mario and Luigi. During the rain delay, young fans were able to play Mario Kart on the video board as the rest of the crowd cheered them on. Also, one lucky fan left the ballpark with a go-kart. The winner of the go-kart turned out to be from the Emerson Rose Foundation and is set to receive a new heart at MUSC next week.

The series finale will feature a mound match-up of RHP Trevor Martin (1-1, 5.06) of the RiverDogs and Myrtle Beach RHP Brody McCullough (0-0, 1.59). The game is schedule to begin at 5:05 p.m.

RiverDogs season tickets, flexible ticket plans, and group tickets, including options to the Segra Club at Riley Park, are available at riverdogs.com/tickets or by contacting the RiverDogs front office at 843-577-3647 (DOGS).

Charleston 2, Myrtle Beach 1

April 29, 2023

Click here for the box score

Myrtle Beach (R-H-E): 1-5-0
Charleston (R-H-E): 2-4-1

Win: Severino (1-0)
Loss: Moreno (0-2)
Save: Meijia (1)

HR: Myrtle Beach: Moises Ballesteros (4, 5th inning, 0 on base)
HR: Charleston: None

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us