By: RiverDogs Media
The Charleston RiverDogs held the Down East Wood Ducks off the scoreboard in the first inning. They could not do the same for the next five frames as the Wood Ducks pulled away for a series-opening 11-5 win at Grainger Stadium on Tuesday night.
The game got off to a tremendous start for the RiverDogs (31-15) in the top of the first inning. Shane Sasaki singled on the first pitch of the game and advanced to second when the very next pitch was wild. Willy Vasquez punched a single to center field and the RiverDogs were up 1-0.
From that point forward, the game spiraled downhill. Down East (22-24) tied the contest on Tucker Mitchell’s solo home run in the bottom of the second and took a lead they would never surrender later in the frame when Junior Paniagua added a two-run single with two outs.
The Wood Ducks would not be slowed until the latter innings of the contest, scoring three runs in the fourth and fifth innings and single runs in the third and sixth. Antonio Jimenez, the RiverDogs starter, allowed six runs in 3.1 innings. Over Galue followed and surrendered four runs, three earned, in 1.1 frames and Sandy Gaston walked four, giving up one run over 2.1 innings of work. Neraldo Catalina looked sharp, striking out three batters in a scoreless eighth inning.
Trailing 10-1, the RiverDogs didn’t collect a hit following Vasquez’s first inning RBI until Mason Auer blasted a two-run home run in the sixth. The long ball was his third of the campaign. Vasquez added an RBI double in the seventh and Luis Leon produced a run with a single in the eighth to close out the scoring.
Vasquez led the RiverDogs with his two-hit, two-RBI performance. Nick Schnell made his return to the lineup for the first time in 2022 with a 2-4 night that included a double. Sasaki also added two hits and extended his hitting streak to 12 games in the process. Down East received three hits each from Mitchell and Daniel Mateo.
The second game of the series is Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. RHP Christian Fernandez (3-1, 2.39) will get the nod for the RiverDogs against Down East RHP Bradford Webb (2-2, 4.97).
Single-game tickets are available for all RiverDogs home games at riverdogs.com. 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).
