It was an absolutely outstanding pitching performance by the Charleston RiverDogs, but the Augusta GreenJackets were just as effective in keeping this a 2-2 tie heading into the 10th inning. That was when Seth Harrison and Dillon Dobson delivered clutch two-out hits to send the visitors to a 6-2 victory.

The RiverDogs got off to a perfect start, plating two in the bottom of the first inning. Jeff Hendrix led off with a single and then stole second for his fourth stolen base of the season. Two batters later Trey Amburgey continued his hot streak, singling to center field to score Hendrix. A ground out moved Amburgey to second and he scored when Jhalan Jackson delivered a clutch two-out hit of his own to send the runner home and give Charleston the early 2-0 lead.

Augusta would respond with a run in the top of the second inning. Dylan Davis started the inning off with a walk and moved to second on a single by Kelvin Beltre. A force out put runners at the corners, and Davis scored on another force play by Jean Angomas to make it 2-1.

In the fourth, the GreenJackets tied the score. Beltre was hit by a pitch with one out, then stole second for his first steal of the season. With two outs, Angomas came up big again, singling home his second run of the game to make it 2-2. He was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double, but the damage was done.

With the score tied at two, the two pitching staffs came up huge. Augusta starter Logan Webb went six impressive innings, allowing 4-hits, 2-runs, and a walk, while striking out 4. Tyler Cyr (1-1) took over in the seventh and pitched three dominating innings for the win. He allowed no hits and just one walk while striking out 5.

Brody Koerner started for Charleston, and was just as impressive. The RiverDogs starter went 7.2 innings, allowing 4-hits, 2-runs and a walk while striking out 8. He was relieved by James Reeves who was dominate through the first 1.2 innings he pitched, recording four of five outs on strikeouts, but in the 10th the inning unraveled on him.

He struck out the first two batters he faced, but a wild pitch allowed Angomas to reach first on the strike out. After Angomas stole his fifth base of the year, Manuel Gerardo struck out but he, too, would reach on a wild pitch. Jalen Miller then walked and the bases were loaded in the most unusual of fashions.

That brought a call to the bullpen, bringing Andrew Schwaab in. Harrison was the first batter he faced, and he delivered a clutch two-out single to right field that scored both Angomas and Geraldo. Next up was Dobson, who also delivered a clutch single, bringing home Miller and Harrison. That made the score 6-2, which would be the final.

It was a most disappointing ending to a stellar pitching performance by the RiverDogs. The staff combined to strike out 15, while yielding just seven total hits. The two men that reached on wild pitches wound up having ghastly consequences for the team.

Three GreenJackets players had two hits each – Harrison, Dobson, and Beltre. Hoy Jun Park saw his nine-game hit streak come to an end.

These two teams will continue their series tomorrow. Grant Watson (1-0, 1.69) goes for the GreenJackets against Domingo Acevedo (1-0, 2.60) for the RiverDogs. Game time is 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier