By: RiverDogs Media
Columbia, SC – The Charleston RiverDogs were not bothered by a rain delay that lasted nearly two hours, taking over first place in the South Division with a 10-3 win over the Columbia Fireflies on Wednesday night at Segra Park. With a Myrtle Beach loss, the RiverDogs also surpassed the Pelicans for the best record in Minor League Baseball. Charleston has scored 21 runs in the first 16.0 innings of the series.
Columbia (17-14, 34-61) took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Carter Jensen opened the frame with a double and moved to third on David Hollie’s single. The run scored when Enrique Valdez grounded into a double play.
The next eight runs belonged to the RiverDogs, (19-12, 65-32) who grabbed a commanding lead in the early going. Shane Sasaki tied the game with a solo home run into the seats beyond the left field wall. Luinder Avila hit Carson Williams with a pitch and walked Willy Vasquez to put two on base for the middle of the order. Bobby Seymour took advantage, giving the RiverDogs the lead with a two-run double. Ryan Spikes followed with his second double of the game to make it 4-1.
In the fourth, Daiwer Castellanos singled and Alejandro Pie was hit by a pitch to set the table for the top of the order. Sasaki banged an RBI double off the left field wall which left a pair in scoring position. Williams and Vasquez each drove in a run with RBI groundouts to increase the margin to 7-1. Pie made it 8-1 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Over Galue came out for the fifth inning in an attempt to qualify for his ninth win of the campaign. He ran into some trouble when Valdez singled and Guillermo Quintana worked a walk to open the frame. A wild pitch allowed one run to score and a second crossed the plate when Omar Florentino punched a single to right to make it 8-3. Galue allowed three runs in 5.0 innings and struck out four as he moved into a tie for the most wins in the Carolina League.
Sandy Gaston struck out the side in the sixth inning to hold the advantage heading to the seventh and final frame. Spikes finished his impressive night with a two-run home run in the top of the frame to stretch the gap to 10-3. Jack Snyder worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom half to close out the victory.
Spikes went 3-3 with two doubles, a home run, three runs batted in and a pair of runs scored. Sasaki and Seymour also provided two hits and two RBI to the cause. Columbia was limited to just four hits in the contest.
The RiverDogs will aim to stretch their winning streak to seven games on Thursday night with RHP JJ Goss (2-5, 4.38) on the hill. The Fireflies will roll with LHP Frank Mozzicato (1-4, 5.19). First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.
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).
