Scudder's Three Hit, Two RBI Night Not Enough in Suns Loss

Charleston, SC - Jake Scudder had three hits and two RBIs as the Hagerstown Suns fell to the Charleston RiverDogs 6-5 on Friday night at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark. The Suns fall to 16-28 in the second half and 43-69 overall with the second game of the series set for a Saturday evening first pitch of 6:05 PM.
Hagerstown took an early lead, scoring in the first against Charleston starter Alex Mauricio. With one out, Cole Freeman singled to center and stole second base. RiverDogs catcher Eduardo Navas made an errant throw on the play, allowing Freeman to advance an extra bag to third. Scudder lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Freeman to give the Suns a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the frame Charleston tied the game with two outs against Suns hurler Malvin Pena. David Metzgar reached on a fielding error but stayed at first as Carlos Vidal popped out to second and Oswaldo Cabrera flew out to center field. Dermis Garcia doubled to left, plating Metzgar to tie the game, 1-1.
The RiverDogs went up by a pair of runs in the second inning after Pena got two outs again. Leonardo Molina walked with one out and Frederick Cuevas triple with two outs to right, scoring Molina to extend Charleston's lead to 2-1. Metzgar reached on another error as Cuevas scored, giving the RiverDogs a 3-1 advantage. Charleston scored three more in the fifth, adding to their advantage to take their biggest lead of the game with a tally of 6-1.
The Suns clawed their way back into the game beginning in the sixth with Mauricio still on the bump. Jake Scudder singled to right and went to second when Omar Meregildo singled to left. With two outs, Kameron Esthay doubled to right, moving Meregildo to third and plating Scudder to cut the deficit to 6-2.
Another run scored in the eighth against RiverDogs reliever Daniel Ramos. Scudder led off with a double to right and Meregildo doubled to left in the next at-bat. The back-to-back doubles scored another run, bringing Hagerstown within three but still trailing, 6-3.
The Suns attempted a ninth-inning rally but fell short as Carlos Espinal took the mound for Charleston. With one out, Gage Canning doubled to right and with two outs scored when Scudder singled to center, making it a 6-4 ballgame. Meregildo stepped up to the plate but struck out looking to end the game and the rally with the Suns taking their fourth-straight loss and third of the road trip.
Pena (3-1) threw five innings while allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Jared Brasher threw two spotless innings in relief with three strikeouts. Jared Johnson tossed the eighth inning with one strikeout.
Notes: Friday was the first nine-inning game the Suns have played in August this season... Hagerstown played a 10-inning game on August 1 and since then has played in five seven-inning games and an eight-inning game... Pena lost a decision for the first time this season... It puts an end to his seven-game win streak that dates back to August 18, 2017... The six runs Pena allowed are the most in any of his outings this season... Canning extended his hit streak to six games and had his six multi-hit effort of the season... Esthay had his 11th multi-hit game of the season while extending his hit streak to four games... Freeman has a six-game hitting streak... Meregildo's hitting streak is at three games while he also collected his ninth multi-hit game of the season... Scudder had his 14th multi-hit game and has a hit in three-straight contests... His three hits tie a season-high... He's accomplished the feat four times... Scudder also had his 11th multi-RBI game of the season... The Suns and RiverDogs will play the second game of the series on Saturday with a 6:05 PM first pitch... Hagerstown will send RHP Brigham Hill (4-3, 3.02 ERA) to the mound against Charleston RHP Roansy Contreras (0-2, 1.99 ERA).