Zebulon, NC – In what started as an unexpected bullpen game for both teams and evolved into a 13-inning thriller, the RiverDogs prevailed 8-5 over the Carolina Mudcats 8-5 on Wednesday night at Five County Stadium.
At 13 innings and 3 hours and 43 minutes, the game was the longest of the season for Charleston in both innings and time of game.
The RiverDogs claimed an early lead, scoring twice in the second inning. Nathan Flewelling opened the frame with a single and moved to third on Angel Mateo’s double. Ricardo Gonzalez brought Flewelling home on a swinging bunt single, and Mateo scored a batter later on a double play ball.
After Carolina starter Jack Hostetler left with an apparent injury with two outs in the second, RiverDogs starter Trevor Harrison exited after two innings and just 26 pitches.
Tasked with preserving the lead and eating innings, Noah Beal took the ball for Charleston in the third inning and delivered, allowing just two baserunners across three scoreless frames.
Carolina reliever Melvin Hernandez was similarly effective in double the amount of innings. Hernandez entered in the top of the fourth and eventually worked six innings without a run, retiring 12 consecutive RiverDogs between the fourth and eighth innings in the process.
Bryce Shaffer entered the game for the ‘Dogs in the sixth and ran into a bases loaded, one-out jam, but escaped to keep Charleston ahead.
The Mudcats threatened again in the eighth and broke through against Andy Rodriguez. With one out, Eric Bitonti scored from first base on an attempted double play that resulted in a throwing error by third baseman Jose Perez. The next batter, Filippo Di Turi, tied the game at two with an RBI double.
A long night for both bullpens only got longer, as neither team scored in the ninth and the contest carried into extra innings.
The RiverDogs capitalized on their placed runner in the 10th, as Narciso Polanco drove in Larry Martinez on a sacrifice fly. Carolina did the same in the bottom of the inning on Luis Pena’s RBI single to tie the game, 3-3.
That pattern repeated in the 11th and 12th. In the 11th, Theo Gillen scored on a bang-bang play at the plate on a Connor Hujsak sacrifice fly before the Mudcats re-tied the game at four thanks to a throwing error. Cade Citelli, in his second inning of work, beared down and stranded the winning run on second base.
Larry Martinez pushed the ‘Dogs ahead 5-4 with an RBI single in the 12th before Pena popped a sac fly in the bottom of the inning to extend the contest.
The RiverDogs finally broke through in the top of the 13th inning. With Carolina on the verge of keeping the game tied with two outs and runners on the corners, Flewelling lofted a bloop single into shallow center, driving in both runners to propel Charleston ahead 7-5. Mateo boosted the lead to 8-5 with an RBI double.
It was far from a drama-free bottom of the 13th, as Jonathan Russell loaded the bases with two outs to put the potential tying run on base. However, the righty bounced back to strike out Yannic Walther to seal the victory.
The RiverDogs, now 25-28, will play for back-to-back wins tomorrow at 6:30 pm. Charleston returns home to begin a six-game homestand on Tuesday. Tickets are available online at RiverDogs.com.