By: RiverDogs Media
Nick Schnell blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning and the Charleston RiverDogs never looked back, cruising to an 8-2 win over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Wednesday afternoon in front of 1,753 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The trio of Cole Wilcox, Jose Lopez and Angel Felipe combined to record 12 strikeouts without a walk while slowing the Pelicans bats.
With one out in the home half of the opening frame, Schnell drove an offering from Myrtle Beach starter Adam Laskey over the wall in left-center for his first home run of the season. The outfielder also drove in the second Charleston run, two innings later, with an RBI groundout to second that made it 2-0.
For the second straight game, the RiverDogs (2-0) put together a five-run inning to widen the gap. This time the floodgates opened in the fourth inning. The first three batters of the frame all reached base safely, chasing Laskey from the contest with the bases loaded. Luis Trevino and Jonathan Embry greeted reliever Joe Nahas with back-to-back singles that brought in three runs. Later in the same inning, Logan Driscoll extended the advantage to 7-0 with a two-run double into the left field corner.
Myrtle Beach (0-2) pushed across their only runs of the day in the eighth against Lopez. Luis Verdugo opened the inning with a double and the next batter, Ethan Hearn, was hit by a pitch. After a fielder’s choice advanced the runners into scoring position, Edmond Americaan picked up an RBI with a groundball to second and Darius Hill added a run with a single to center.
Johan Lopez hit his first long ball of the season in the bottom of the eighth to set the final margin. Schnell, Driscoll and Embry each finished with two runs batted in. The RiverDogs have combined to hit four home runs in the first two games of the season.
Wilcox dominated for the first 4.0 innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five. Lopez picked up the win after 4.0 solid innings of his own, during which he also fanned five. Angel Felipe closed out the game by retiring the side in order in the ninth with a fastball that reached 97 mph.
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