Dowd Dominates and Offense Impresses as RiverDogs Beat Fayetteville 7-1

The Charleston RiverDogs opened the second series of their 12-game homestand in dominant fashion, pounding the Fayetteville Woodpeckers by a 7-1 score on Tuesday at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The RiverDogs collected 13 hits and Drew Dowd worked 7.0 dominant innings out of the bullpen to increase the team’s south division lead to 3.5 games over Columbia. The game was played in front of 2,714 fans.

The RiverDogs (32-21, 59-59) opened the second leg of a 12-game homestand by scoring a quick run. Adrian Santana opened the bottom of the first with a double into the right center gap. He stole third base and scored on Emilien Pitre’s hard groundball that deflected off the pitcher and into the right field grass. Three batters into the game the home team had secured a 1-0 lead.

The Woodpeckers (23-30, 52-67) bounced back to even the score in the top of the second. Caden Powell registered Fayetteville’s first hit of the night by hooking a slider into the left field corner. With two outs, Drew Vogel drove him in with a hard single through the right side. That run was the only one allowed by T.J. Nichols in 2.0 innings of work coming off the injured list.

Fayetteville registered just one hit over the remainder of the contest, with Dowd dominating the final 7.0 innings. He allowed just one hit and a walk, striking out a career-high eight batters along the way. He earned his sixth win of the season and lowered his ERA to 2.98.

The score was not tied for long as first baseman Brady Marget blasted his first professional home run over the right field wall in the second inning to put the home team right back on top. Marget played a large role in extending the lead in the fourth inning, this time lining an RBI single into right with two outs to make it 3-1.

The RiverDogs lead grew in the bottom of the sixth. Julio Marte walked Theo Gillen, hit Enderson Delgado and allowed a single to Marget to load the bases in the frame. Narciso Polanco lined a base hit back up the middle to extend the margin to 4-1 and then Santana beat out an infield single left of the mound to add one more.

Charleston added a couple of insurance runs for good measure in their final at-bat. Marget was hit by a pitch to start the frame. He moved to second on an infield single from Adrian Santana before a fielder’s choice left runners on the corners with one out. Pitre collected his third hit of the night with a double off the glove of left fielder Lucas Spence that scored two more runs and pushed the gap to the final score of 7-1.

Santana collected a career-best four hits, including his fifth double in the last week. Marget and Pitre each closed the night with three hits and multiple RBI. Delgado’s hitting streak came to an end at nine games. Three different Woodpeckers were responsible for one hit each.

Ballpark Fun

The RiverDogs hosted their final Dog Day Tuesday of the season in the opening game of the series. Bowls filled with cool water were placed around the ballpark for the four-legged fans in attendance and the night featured a parade of doodles around the concourse. Once again, Camp Bow Wow provided a puppy playground on Ashley View Pub for fans who brought their dog.

The second game of the series is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. RHP Jose Urbina (0-0, 6.75) will start on the mound for the RiverDogs with RHP Rafael Gonzalez (0-0, 6.75) countering for Fayetteville. Join us to celebrate “Less Likes, More Love” Night, featuring fun promotions, giveaways and unique lenses that only Snapchat can provide! Because the more love we share, the more love we feel.