Smith Dominates During Career Start

VISALIA, CA - Visalia starter Riley Smith locked in from the first pitch of the game by retiring the first eight hitters he faced. A two-out error put Modesto's first baserunner on, but for the second time in the last three nights, a Rawhide starter had a no-hitter through three innings.

Jordan Cowan broke up the no-hitter by singling to lead off the fourth, but Smith held strong. He went on to retire the next seven hitters he faced and held Modesto scoreless through the sixth inning while holding the Nuts to just one hit with one walk.
Though Modesto (50-69/20-29) got to him for a run in the top of the seventh and put the tying run in scoring position with one out, Smith found a way to escape the jam, striking out Jack Larsen and Nick Thurman looking to end the inning. He tied his career-high marks by tossing seven innings and striking out eight. The two hits he allowed were the fewest number of hits he's allowed this season.
Smith (W, 7-5) has now won each of his last three starts. Modesto's seventh-inning run ended a streak of 19.2 innings where Smith had not allowed an earned run.
The Rawhide offense gave Smith plenty of support to work with. Nuts starter Nick Wells wiggled in and out of trouble in the first two innings, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position, before Visalia got to him in the fourth.
With two outs, Pavin Smith started a rally by singling up the middle. Marcus Wilson doubled into left center to score Smith and Renae Martinez banged a single into center to plate Wilson and put Visalia (58-61/21-28) on top 2-0.
From there, the Rawhide never let up. Jazz Chisholm blasted a two-out solo homer in the fifth. Then, after Modesto scored their sole run in the seventh, Visalia came back for two more runs on a triple by Mark Karaviotis and a base hit by Chisholm (the only runs that would score with fewer than two outs).
Luis Silverio tripled home Wilson with two outs in the eighth to put Visalia up 6-1.
Wilson led the way for Vislaia with three hits, including a pair of doubles, while driving home a run and scoring two. Chisholm added a pair of hits for the third straight game and drove home two for the second consecutive night. His home run was his fifth with the Rawhide and his 20^th overall this season, tying him for the lead in the Diamondbacks organization.
Karaviotis also put up two hits for the Rawhide: a double and a triple. Silverio's triple extended his hitting streak to seven games.
The Rawhide now look for a series win in the rubber game of the series tomorrow. A to-be-announced Rawhide starter will go against Modesto RHP Darren McCaughan (6-8, 3.23). First pitch is at 6:00 PM and tickets are available on rawhidebaseball.com.