Charleston Rallies Past Greenville, 8-7, on Independence Day

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Greenville Drive held a 6-2 lead after six innings but the Charleston RiverDogs scored six runs in the final three innings to overtake the Drive, 8-7, on Independence Day at Fluor Field.
Greenville opened the scoring with a lone run in the second. Tyler Dearden reached on a two-out double to left and Everlouis Lozada drove him in with a triple to right, putting the Drive in front 1-0.
Charleston answered with two runs in the top of the third. A lead-off single by Brandon Lockridge followed by a walk to Anthony Seigler put two aboard with no outs. Three batters later, a two-out double by Eric Wagaman scored both to put the RiverDogs in front, 2-1.

The Drive tied it with a run in the third. With two outs and Cole Brannen on second, Triston Casas singled to left center to bring home Brannen and make it a 2-2 game.
Greenville scored for the third straight inning, plating two in the fourth. Kole Cottam drew a lead-off walk and two batters later Lozada homered off the videoboard in right to give the Drive a 4-2 lead.
They would add to it in the sixth with two more runs. Cottam doubled to start the inning and moved to third on a would-be sacrifice bunt, beating the throw to third as the pitcher attempted to force him out. Lozada followed with a single, scoring Cottam for his fourth RBI of the night. Two batters later, Grant Williams singled to center to bring in Lozada and put the Drive up 6-2.
Both teams added a run in the seventh. In the top half, a lead-off home run for Welfrin Mateo, his first of the season, cut it to 6-3. In the bottom half, Tyler Esplin singles, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Cottam extending the lead to 7-3.
Charleston took control of the game from there, scoring four in the eighth and one in the ninth. A bases-loaded walk for Mateo brought in the first one in the eighth, before a bases-clearing double by Brandon Lockridge tied the game at 7-7. In the ninth, Josh Stowers singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on an RBI single by Wagaman.
Charleston reliever Dalton Lehnen (1-0) got the win, retiring the final batter of the eighth before working a scoreless ninth. Drive reliever Kris Jackson (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings pitched with a strikeout and two walks.
Lozada led the Drive offense, going 3-for-4 with a triple, a homer, two runs and four RBIs on the night. Cottam added a 2-for-4 night with a double, two runs and an RBI, while Williams was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Dearden went 1-for-2 with a double and a pair of sacrifices.
Drive starter Brayan Bello allowed just two runs on three hits in 5.0 innings pitched with four strikeouts against five walks.
The series continues on Friday with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch. Drive right-hander Chase Shugart will face off against Charleston right-hander Roansy Contreras.