de Oleo Hits Two Homers in Loss at Hickory

Charleston slugs four home runs in its sixth loss in a row, including two by Eduardo de Oleo

June 2, 2014

HICKORY, NC - Eduardo de Oleo recorded his first career multi-homer game in a 9-6 Charleston RiverDogs loss to the Hickory Crawdads on Monday at L.P. Frans Stadium in South Atlantic League action. Gosuke Katoh and Aaron Judge also homered for Charleston.

Charleston suffers its sixth straight loss and falls to 27-30 as Hickory steps up to 29-27. Brady Lail, a Sally League co-leader with seven victories, was tagged with his first loss since an April 12 defeat to the Augusta GreenJackets, snapping a streak of six straight winning decisions.

Katoh blasted the RiverDogs to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. With one out and Hickory's Cole Wiper on the mound, Katoh hit a solo shot to right field to put Charleston ahead. It was Katoh's second home run of the season, both coming at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory.

The Crawdads quickly tied the contest against Brady Lail in their half of the third. Nick Vickerson reached on a one-out single and made it to second base on a Lewis Brinson walk. Former Citadel Bulldog Joe Jackson drove in Vickerson to even the score at 1-1.

In the top of the fifth, another solo home run pushed Charleston back in front. de Oleo launched his sixth home run of the season over the left field wall for a 2-1 RiverDogs advantage.

Once again, Hickory answered Charleston as the Crawdads took a 4-2 lead late in the fifth. A pair of walks was followed by a force out and a strikeout that put the RiverDogs one pitch away from escaping the jam. However, Nomar Mazara hit a go-ahead, three-run blast to turn the lead to the Crawdads. This was the sixth home run this season for Mazara.

The Crawdads secured their lead with a five-run rally in the sixth inning. Angel Rincon had two outs and no runners aboard when he walked two Crawdads. Vickerson's two-run double extended the lead to 6-2. Brinson doubled to score Vickerson. Chris Smith relieved Rincon, and Jackson tagged Smith for a two-run home run, his second dinger of the year, for a 9-2 advantage.

Charleston forged a late attempt at a comeback with home runs. Judge delivered a two-run shot off Felix Carvallo in the eighth inning that sliced the Charleston deficit to 9-4. Judge homered in each of his last three games and ties Mike Ford with a team-best eight blasts. de Oleo's second home run was a two-run homer in the ninth that closed the gap to three before the game ended. A career-best seven home runs this season puts de Oleo behind Judge and Ford for the team lead.

Wiper struck out nine in a quality start, improving to 4-6 with the Crawdads. Lail was charged with a loss and is now 7-2 for the RiverDogs.

COMING UP: The RiverDogs look to snap their losing streak against the Crawdads on Tuesday at 7pm with Charleston RHP Rookie Davis (2-5, 5.06 ERA) opposing Hickory LHP Chad Bell (1-0, 2.19 ERA). This quick road trip will be followed with a four-game RiverDogs homestand against the Savannah Sand Gnats, starting on June 5 with another Budweiser Thirsty Thursday, presented by 95SX. This includes $1 drafts and DJ Natty Heavy in the Ashley View Pub, along with a wing-eating contest from Wild Wing Café. Tickets may be purchased at the Riley Park Box Office, (843) 577-DOGS (3647) or on-line at www.riverdogs.com. If fans cannot make it to the ballpark, they are encouraged to tune in to all the action this year both home and away worldwide on www.riverdogs.com and locally on 1250 WTMA, the new radio home for RiverDogs baseball.

--RIVERDOGS--