Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
Single-A Affiliate
The Official Site of the Charleston RiverDogs Charleston RiverDogs

RiverDogs Whiff 18 GreenJackets in 11-6 Win

May 12, 2023

For the first time in the 2023 season, the Charleston RiverDogs have won consecutive games. Four runs in the top of the ninth inning helped secure an 11-6 victory over the Augusta GreenJackets on Friday night, allowing the RiverDogs to even the series. Trevor Martin, Cade Halemanu and Samuel Mejia

For the first time in the 2023 season, the Charleston RiverDogs have won consecutive games. Four runs in the top of the ninth inning helped secure an 11-6 victory over the Augusta GreenJackets on Friday night, allowing the RiverDogs to even the series. Trevor Martin, Cade Halemanu and Samuel Mejia combined to strike out a season-high 18 batters. That total is the most in a game for the RiverDogs since July 9, 2021.

For the first time in the series, the RiverDogs (12-19) scored first. They wasted no time in going on the attack against top Braves pitching prospect Owen Murphy. Chandler Simpson worked a leadoff walk and immediately stole second base. He scored on a two-single from Ryan Spikes to open the scoring. A wild pitch moved Spikes to second, allowing him to race home on a Kamren James double to the gap. Both Spikes and James extended hitting streaks to five games.

The RiverDogs moved ahead 3-0 with an unearned run in the top of the third. However, Augusta (14-16) cut into the lead in their next two at-bats. Ethan Workinger extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI double in the bottom of the second. David McCabe made it a 3-2 game with his own RBI double in the third.

A pair of two-run home runs helped the RiverDogs grab a 7-3 advantage toward the late stages of the contest. Spikes drilled his second round-tripper of the series off of Jared Johnson in the fifth inning to increase the lead to 5-2. McCabe drove in another run in the fifth to trim the lead again, but Jhon Diaz hammered a two-run blast of his own in the eighth to give the RiverDogs a cushion.

The padding proved advantageous when Bryson Worrell hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to again pull the GreenJackets within one. More insurance was coming in the top of the ninth.

With one out, Cooper Kinney singled, Spikes walked, and James drove in a run with a seeing-eye single to left field. A costly error by McCabe at third allowed another run to score and both remaining runners to advance to scoring position. Christopher Barete extended the gap to 11-6 with a two-run single up the middle that finished the night’s scoring.

Martin, the starter, allowed two runs on three hits in 3.2 innings of work. His scoreless inning streak was snapped at 13.0. Halemanu earned the win by tossing 3.1 innings and allowing one run. He struck out six. Mejia closed the game out with 2.0 innings of work that featured five strikeouts. Mejia surrendered three runs.

The RiverDogs had three players collect multiple hits. Kinney led the way with a 3-5 night in the batter’s box. Spikes added two hits and three runs batted in, while James drove in two with a pair of hits. Augusta received three hits and two RBI from McCabe.

The RiverDogs will aim to collect a third straight win on Saturday night in the fifth installment of the series. RHP Marcus Johnson (0-1, 4.50) will take the hill for Charleston in a match-up with Augusta’s LHP Adam Shoemaker (0-1, 2.77). First pitch will take place at 6:05 p.m.