North Augusta, S.C. – After jumping out an early lead, the Charleston RiverDogs allowed five unanswered runs in a 7-6 to the Augusta GreenJackets on Saturday night at SRP Park.
The GreenJackets struck first early when Alex Lodise blasted a two-run homer to left that gave them a 2-0 in the bottom of the first.
The RiverDogs responded immediately in the top of the second when Nicandro Aybar lined an RBI double to right that cut the deficit to 2-1. Two batters later, Derek Datil rolled an RBI single to center that knotted the game at 2-2.
After Charleston took the lead on a fielder’s choice play, Cooper Flemming broke the game open by blistering a two-run triple down the right-field line. Caden Bodine brought Flemming home on an RBI groundout to give Charleston a 6-2 lead.
Alex Wallace settled in, keeping Augusta off the scoreboard through the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth, they began to chip away when Luis Guanipa lifted a solo shot to left to make it 6-3.
Later in the frame, Cooper McMurray belted a three-run shot to left that evened the score at 6-6.
Wallace finished the night tossing 5.1 innings, allowing four runs, and punching out eight hitters to match a career-high mark.
With the game still tied at 6-6 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Junior Garica chopped a walk-off single to center to earn Augusta the 7-6 win.
With the loss, Charleston fell to 20-12 while Augusta moved to 16-16. The two return to SRP Park tomorrow for the series finale with first pitch slated for 2:05 p.m. Coverage begins at 1:50 p.m. on the RiverDogs Broadcast Network.