RiverDogs Drop Fifth Straight, Blanked by Crawdads

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston RiverDogs trailed 1-0 after seven, but a three-run home run gave the Hickory Crawdads plenty of insurance as the Texas Rangers' Class-A affiliate shut out the Dogs, 4-0, in the four-game series opener to hand Charleston their fifth straight loss in front of 3,998 at Riley Park on Saturday evening.
Right-hander Janson Junk (3-2) allowed just one run and was yanked with no outs in the fifth inning, needing 91 pitches to get there. Dallas Baptist product Dalton Higgins followed Junk with three hitless innings. The RiverDogs (45-44, 12-9) reliever has lowered his ERA to 1.09 in his last nine appearances, allowing one earned run over his last 23 innings.
Righty Braden Bristo threw 1 2/3 innings, surrendering his first homer of the season in the eighth, a three-run blast from right fielder Miguel Aparicio. With the big inning, the RiverDogs have now allowed three or more runs in six separate innings during the first four games of the homestand.

Charleston hitting managed just six hits off Hickory (42-48, 12-10) hurlers. First baseman Dermis Garcia and center fielder Matt McPhearson stroked singles, extending their hitting streaks to nine and seven games, respectively.  
The Holy City has not led at any point during their season-long, five-game losing streak going back to Monday's defeat in Columbia. The RiverDogs have been shut out twice during their first four days back at The Joe. Charleston had not lost three straight home games until the current homestand.
Ballpark Fun
Despite the Dogs' loss, fans stuck around late for a postgame t-shirt toss. RiverDogs players and staff members loosened their arms and rifled 1,000 tees into the crowd for Riley Park goers to fight for.
Upcoming
The four-game tilt continues on a Holy City Sunday as right-hander Alex Mauricio makes his RiverDogs debut against righty Alex Eubanks (5-5, 5.72) and the Crawdads. Kids run the bases postgame and eat free. Take the field at your own risk as it is "Dino Day" at the park. There will be prehistoric creatures in the stadium and a fossil dig site on the concourse. Sunday's game two will be aired on MyTV, Channel 13 in the Lowcountry, on "The Big Talker" WTMA 1250 AM with audio streaming live at riverdogs.com and the RiverDogs' TuneIn radio station.
RiverDogs single-game tickets, including options to the Riley Park Club, are now available for the 2018 campaign, the club's 25^th season as the RiverDogs and their "175^th season in dog years." Ticket information can be secured by contacting the box office at (843) 577-DOGS (3647) or online at www.riverdogs.com/tickets.
--RIVERDOGS--