Fayetteville Frustrates RiverDogs in Series Opener

A towering pop up fell between two Charleston RiverDogs infielders to begin the bottom of the second inning on Tuesday night at Segra Stadium. From that point forward, everything went downhill in the team’s first road game of the season. The Fayetteville Woodpeckers collected nine hits and their pitching staff piled up 16 strikeouts in a 9-3 win.

The previously mentioned second inning proved disastrous for the RiverDogs (2-2). The first pitch of the inning from T. J. Nichols was popped high into the air on the third base side. Ricardo Gonzalez crossed into foul territory only to have the ball drop behind him just inside the foul line for a base hit. Nichols was thrown off by the miscue, walking the next three hitters to force in the game’s first run. Will Bush and Kenni Gomez followed with consecutive RBI singles, expanding the lead to 3-0. Engert Garcia replaced the starter with the bases still loaded and induced a double play and a pop out to end the inning.

With the Charleston offense struggling to find its footing, Fayetteville (3-1) added to their advantage in the fourth. In his third inning on the mound, Garcia walked Alberto Hernandez to begin the inning. Gomez singled with one out and a wild pitch advanced runners to second and third for Waner Luciano. The third baseman hooked a double down the left field line to score both and make it 6-0.

Failing to score with a bases loaded opportunity in the fifth inning, the RiverDogs cashed in for the first time in the sixth. Ricardo Gonzalez opened the inning with a solo home run over the right field wall. Tre’ Morgan immediately followed with a base hit and raced all the way to third on Raudelis Martinez’s double down the right field line. Carlos Colmenarez worked a walk to load the bases and Noah Myers drove in a second run with a fielder’s choice bouncer to second.

Fayetteville blew the game open against Gerlin Rosario in the seventh. The right-hander hit Xavier Casserilla with his first offering of the frame and followed that with a walk of Waner Luciano. An infield hit by Nehomar Ochoa loaded the bases with just one out. Hernandez took advantage by lining a two-run single into right field and the gap widened to 9-2.

Nichols took the loss after allowing four runs in the second inning without recording an out. He allowed three hits and also issued three free passes. Owen Stevenson was impressive bouncing back from a challenging first outing over the weekend. The reliever out of Arizona State worked 2.1 scoreless innings. Fayetteville starter Derek True was phenomenal, striking out seven over 4.2 innings.

Gomez paced the Woodpeckers from the top spot in their lineup, going 3-5 with two runs batted in. Herandez chipped in three RBI with a single and two walks. The RiverDogs finished with seven hits, one each from seven different players.