Zebulon, NC – The RiverDogs continued their doubleheader prowess, sweeping the Carolina Mudcats in a twin bill on Friday night at Five County Stadium. The ‘Dogs took game one 8-4 in a comeback effort and game two 3-0 thanks to a career night from Andres Galan.
The doubleheader sweep is Charleston’s third this season.
In game one, the Mudcats struck first in the second inning, putting up a four-spot to take an early lead.
After a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases, Luis Lameda delivered with a two-run double off the right-center field wall, giving the Mudcats a 2-0 advantage. Edgardo Ordonez followed with an RBI single to bring home Reece Walling, and with two outs, Jesus Made’s grounder to second was mishandled by Jose Monzon—an error that allowed another run to score and stretched the lead to 4-0.
The RiverDogs responded in the fourth with a surge of their own.
Connor Hujsak worked a walk to start the inning, and Nathan Flewelling immediately made it count, launching a 107 MPH line-drive home run into the right-field corner to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.
The homer was Flewelling’s second in his last four games.
Woo Shin kept the momentum going in the fourth with a two-out double off the left field wall. After consecutive walks to Narciso Polanco and Jose Monzon, the Mudcats went to the bullpen, calling on Dikember Sanchez to escape the jam. But with the bases loaded, Theo Gillen was hit by a pitch, forcing another run and narrowing the gap to 4-3.
The RiverDogs weren’t done yet.
In the fifth, Hujsak and Angel Mateo each reached on infield singles, and Ricardo Gonzalez drew a walk to load the bases. That set the stage for Shin, who launched an opposite-field grand slam to the right-field corner — completing the comeback to give the RiverDogs a 7-4 lead.
The shot was the first RiverDogs grand slam since Cooper Kinney June 4, 2023.
‘Dogs starter Ryan Andrade recovered after letting up those four earned runs in the second, pitching four scoreless to end his outing. Kaleb Corbett finished the first half of the day with a scoreless bottom of the seventh.
In game two, pitching took center stage for Charleston.
The RiverDogs grabbed an early cushion for Galan in the third inning. After Carolina starter Wande Torres retired the first two batters of the inning, Charleston used clutch two out hitting to jump ahead. Brailer Guerrero ripped a single to get the rally started. Then Mateo followed with a single of his own, and Shin walked to load the bases. Then Polanco slapped a single to right field, tallying two runs in the process, putting Charleston in the driver's seat at 2-0.
Galan took the lead and ran with it. The 2024 draft selection scattered three hits and two walks through six innings, eventually striking out 10 batters – the first RiverDog to do so this season.
Jose Monzon tacked onto the lead with an RBI single in the top of the sixth, making it 3-0 ‘Dogs.
Meanwhile, Galan allowed just one knock in his final 5.2 innings and put the cherry on top of a career day by striking out the side in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Janzen Keisel wrapped up the twin bill sweep by earning his first professional save in the seventh.
The series continues tomorrow night at 6:30 pm. Charleston returns to The Joe on Tuesday to kick off a six-game homestand against Augusta. Tickets are available at RiverDogs.com.