River Riders' bats come alive against Whistlepigs
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The Elizabethton River Riders defeated the Whistlepigs,12-2, Thursday night in Princeton at Hunnicutt Field. The River Riders (9-9) put up a team-high 17 hits in the victory.
E-Town jumped out early, scoring a combined five runs in the top of the first and second. Sam Thompson (TCU) scored shortstop Marcus Brown (Oklahoma State University) on a sacrifice fly to left field. Third baseman Johnathan Soto (Rogers State) singled with two outs to score first baseman Chase Adkison (OSU) to make it 2-0 River Riders at the end of the first. Lead-off hitter right fielder Mario Zabala (Florida International) doubled in the top of the second to score second baseman John Montes (UCF) from first. Brown singled to score Zabala from second. Adkinson’s single brought in the third run of the inning for the River Riders to make the score 5-0.
In the bottom of the second, Princeton (13-4) scored one run on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Tyshawn Barrett (William Peace).
The River Riders sent four pitchers to the mound, they combined for nine strikeouts and gave up four hits and two runs, only one of which was earned.
Elizabethton scored three runs in the top of the seventh. Thompson and Soto scored on DJ Sullivan’s (Florence-Darlington Tech) RBI triple. Left fielder Garrison Berkley (TCU) brought Sullivan home on a single.
In the top of the eighth, Adkison scored Montes on a single and was brought home by Thompson’s RBI double.
In the bottom of the eighth, LHP Jullian Clavelle (Sacramento City) gave up a lead-off home run to right fielder Tommy Myint (Radford). Clavelle finished the inning by striking out three.
Montes hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Robert Bavon (OSU) from third. Bavon walked in his pinch-hit appearance for Berkley. Zabala hit his second RBI double of the game to score catcher Knox Preston (Wabash Valley) for the final run in the contest.
The River Riders will stay in Princeton for game two of the series, before heading to Danville to conclude their six-game road trip. Elizabethton is currently 5-0 against East Division teams this season. Fans can listen to the game at this link.