By: RiverDogs Media
The Charleston RiverDogs scored eight runs in the first inning and never looked back on their way to an 11-1 thrashing of the Columbia Fireflies on Saturday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The RiverDogs outhit the Fireflies 13-3 in the contest, winning by their largest margin of the season. The game, delayed at the outset by almost two hours, was played in front of 4,218 fans.
The RiverDogs (7-7, 34-46) burst out of the gates against Shane Panzini, putting up their most prolific inning of the season. Chandler Simpson opened the stanza with an infield single and promptly stole second and third base. Xavier Isaac worked a walk and Ryan Spikes blasted his team-leading eighth home run of the season to make it 3-0. A hit by pitch, walk and infield single loaded the bases once again with two outs. Panzini walked Mario Fernandez to force in another run before departing the game. He was charged with seven runs, four of them earned.
Nicholas Regalado entered from the pen and induced a chopper to second from Simpson that was misplayed by Lizandro Rodriguez for a run-scoring error. Cooper Kinney cleared the bases with a double and the lead swelled to 8-0.
Charleston wasn't done there. Edwin Barragan rolled an RBI single through the left side of the infield to tack on a run in the second. In the third, Kinney came through with another double, this time driving in one run to increase the margin to 1-0. Finally, Fernandez tallied his second RBI with a single to left in the fourth. The single represented his first hit since joining the team last week.
Yoniel Curet was dominant on the mound once again, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings. The right-hander whiffed nine batters to match his career-high in strikeouts. He has turned in 24.2 consecutive scoreless innings.
Columbia (8-6, 43-36) scored their lone run in the seventh against Kikito Severino. The inning began with a single and a walk and was capped by Levi Usher's RBI double down the third base line.
Severino surrendered the lone run over 3.0 innings, striking out four. Juan Rodriguez left the game with the athletic trainer before finishing an at-bat in the eighth. Michael Sansone closed the game with 2.0 perfect innings and also collected four strikeouts.
Kinney finished 2-5 with a pair of doubles and four runs batted in. Meza and Barragan each led the way with three hits. Simpson's stolen bases moved him into third place in RiverDogs history in single-season stolen bases with 61.
Ballpark Fun
The ballpark featured a bubblicious theme for the RiverDogs Bubbles Bash presented by Resonac Graphite America. The first 250 fans into the stadium received a t-shirt to commemorate the evening. Following the game, everyone in attendance received a bottle of bubbles as the entire crowd blew them in unison.
The series wraps up with game six on Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. Parking is free, and kids can run the bases following the game on an MUSC Health Family Sunday. LHP Alex Ayala Jr. (0-4, 4.86) will make his second start of the week for the RiverDogs with RHP Mauricio Veliz (1-4, 4.98) countering for the Fireflies.
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 11, Columbia 1 July 8, 2023
Click here for the box score
Win: Severino (2-3)
Loss: Panzini (1-7)
HR: Columbia: None
