For a second consecutive game, the RiverDogs carried a no hitter into the seventh inning as Charleston shut out Lynchburg 7-0 in a rain-shortened contest in front of 2,615 fans on Wednesday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
The game was called due to lightning with rain approaching the ballpark in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The win moves the RiverDogs record to 4-1 in the second half.
After Jayden Voelker tossed 6.1 no hit innings last night, Trevor Harrison followed the act with six no-hit innings of his own tonight, striking out a career-high eight batters.
The RiverDogs supported Harrison early with a second-inning 3-spot.
After an Angel Mateo single and two walks, Charleston loaded the baseswith no outs. In the first pitch of Larry Martinez’s at-bat, Hillcats starter Jacob Zibin threw a wild pitch, allowing Mateo to score from third. Martinez then skied a sacrifice fly to right center, scoring Shin. Jose Monzon joined the fun and roped an RBI-single to make the score 3-0.
The RiverDogs re-loaded the bases, as Jose Perez singled and Theo Gillen walked. However, Sean Matson replaced Zibin out of Lynchburg’s bullpen and got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
Matson proceeded to put on a clinical relief performance. He threw a hitless 4.2 frames, striking out seven while walking two.
Harrison’s lone base runner allowed came in the top of the fourth, when he issued a leadoff walk to Nick Mitchell. The Rays No. 10 prospect bounced back by striking out the next three batters.
Jadon Bercovich took over for Harrison to open the seventh inning and picked up where he left off, punching out the side to carry the no-hit bid into the eighth inning for Charleston.
In the bottom of the seventh, Charleston loaded the bases again and capitalized in a big way.
Gillen, Perez, and Connor Hujsak all walked to start the frame, setting the stage for Mateo. With a sudden surge of hitter-friendly wind, Mateo took the first pitch for a long ride. He smashed a grand slam off the light pole in left field, extending the lead to 7-0 for the ‘Dogs.
The Hillcats broke up the no hitter with a Bennett Thompson bloop single in the top of the eighth that fell just out of the reach of the third baseman Monzon. Bercovich bounced back to strand Thompson on third base to preserve the shutout.
Ballpark Fun: Tonight's Wicked Weed Wild Wednesday promotion was ‘Kids eat free’ as kids 12 and under received a free hot dog and a bag of potato chips. During the game, there was a Beer Vending contest on top of the home dugout, where fans attempted to outsell their peers in terms of support from the RiverDog faithful. The videoboard played some throwback commercials, in honor of beer vendor Nate Crowe’s 30th season working for the club.
The RiverDogs return to action against Lynchburg Thursday night at 7:05 pm. It’s Thirtsty Thursday, presented by Budweiser, featuring dollar beers throughout the ballpark. The RiverDogs will suit up as the Malmö Oat Milkers, as part of an MiLB-wide partnership with Oatly Oat Milk.