By WRBL Staff
RiverDogs Media Relations
Charleston, SC - The Columbus Catfish took advantage of four Charleston errors and five walks to post a 7-4 victory over the RiverDogs in South Atlantic League action Saturday night in front of 5,731 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.RiverDogs Media Relations
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Stumble It!Columbus has taken two of three in this four-game series from Charleston and improves to 11-12 on the season, while the first-place RiverDogs slip to 18-5. Charleston drops consecutive games for the first time since April 17 and 18, when they fell to Savannah and Columbus, respectively, on the road.
Charleston starter Noel Castillo (3-1) issued four first-inning walks, including two with the bases loaded, resulting in a 3-0 lead for Columbus before the home team came to bat. The RiverDogs also committed four errors on the night after making three on Friday night.
Columbus took an early lead for the third consecutive night, this time placing a three-spot on the scoreboard in the first. Greg Sexton earned an RBI on a groundout, and RBIs were credited to both Steve Vogt and Joey Callendar as they were on the receiving end of back-to-back bases-loaded walks by Castillo.
The RiverDogs cut the lead to 3-2 in the second when Wady Rufino belted a 3-2 offering over the left field fence for a two-run shot off Columbus starter Glenn Gibson. It was Rufino’s team-leading fourth blast of the campaign.
Charleston tied the score at 3-3 in the third when Taylor Holiday opened the frame with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Justin Snyder drove Holiday home with the tying run with a sac fly to center field.
But Columbus came back to re-take the lead at 4-3 in the fourth. Omar Luna opened the fourth with a bloop double to center, moved to third on Castillo’s balk, and scored on a ground ball hit by Emeel Salem.
Columbus extended its lead to 6-3 in the seventh on RBI singles by Reid Fronk and Mike McCormick against reliever Chace Vacek, with both being unearned due to two Charleston errors. The Catfish added their final run in the eighth inning on Maiko Loyola’s run-scoring single against Jesse Hoover.
The RiverDogs added a run in the bottom of the eighth when Bradley Suttle reached on a throwing error and scored on Jesus Montero’s double. Montero’s two-base hit was his lone of the night and he has now registered a hit in 21 of the 23 games played thus far.
Charleston could muster only five hits in the contest, with Angelini the only man recording a pair. Columbus had nine for the game with Loyola and McCormick each garnering two.
Gibson (1-3) picked up the win, his first in the South Atlantic League. He pitched five complete innings and surrendered three runs on three hits while walking two and striking out one.
The final game of this four-contest series is set for Sunday at 4:05 pm. with Charleston starting righty Adam Olbrychowski (0-2, 5.60 ERA) while Columbus counters with righty Josh Johnson (1-2, 4.35 ERA).
