Riverdogs roll past Squirrels, 20-3

sports@standard-democrat.com

CHARLESTON -- Unable to keep up with the Charleston Riverdogs' high-powered offense, the Charleston Squirrels fell 20-3 in five innings on Monday in the first game of a doubleheader.

"We didn't make some plays today and they shouldn't have scored that many runs," Squirrels' head coach Michael Minner said. "If we make some plays it's probably 4-3 in the fourth or fifth inning. I told the guys we have to find a way to get more competitive.

"We haven't been real competitive the last week or two. We're going to have to make some adjustments."

The Squirrels exited the first inning trailing 5-3, but collected just one hit through the next four frames.

With the Squirrels offense stalled, the Riverdogs put together back-to-back three run innings in the second and third before a nine-run fourth broke the game open.

In the nine-run outburst, the first nine hitters to step to the plate all reached and scored as the Riverdogs totaled eight hits and three passes in the inning.

"Our kids early in the year struggled to score runs," Riverdogs' head coach Paul Sander said. "Then last weekend up in Valmeyer and now today, we hit the ball a lot better. Most of our kids are playing for a college somewhere and I think playing only on the weekends, sometimes it's a little hard to get in a rhythm.

"They've gotten into a better rhythm now. Whether we keep it up consistently or not remains to be seen, but we hit the ball a lot better (recently)."

Outhitting the Squirrels 22-5, the Riverdogs had eight of their starting nine leave the game with multiple hits.

Jared Walker led the way with a 4 for 4 effort that included a double and five runs driven in. He also collected a walk to reach in all five appearances.

Ian Householder had three hits, coming just a home run short of the cycle, while driving in four run and scoring twice. Blake Gaddis and Dylan Koehler also had three hits with Paul Johnson, Seth Childers, Greg Craft and Spencer Sander contributing two hits each.

For the Squirrels, Brad Potts, Tim Fox, Ryan Fortner and Luke Haines all singled to power a three-run rally in the first inning. Cody Payne's single in the bottom of the second represented the Squirrels last hit of the contest.

"State is right around the corner and we're still trying to find our starting nine," Minner said. "We're just not finding it right now. Hopefully some guys step and hopefully we get locked in. We just have to do a better job."

Picking up the win, Riverdog starter Alex Beussink went four winnings, where he gave up all three runs on five hits and no walks. He retired the last seven batters he faced in order.

Justin Simpher came in to pitch a scoreless fifth.

"Alex is a good starter," Paul Sander said. "I noticed he was a flying open a little bit early and losing velocity on his fastball. We made that adjustment and was more effective after that. He's a tough pitcher, a good kid and he pitched well."

The loss left the Squirrels at 25-11 while the Riverdogs improved to 6-7 on the year.

Riverdogs 533 90 - 20

Squirrels 300 00 - 3

WP -- Alex Beussink. LP -- Bruce Simmons. Multiple hitters: (R) Paul Johnson 2-5, Jacob Wilson 2-4, Dylan Koehler 3-4, Blake Gaddis 3-4, Jared Walker 4-4, Ian Householder 3-3, Grag Craft 2-3. 2B -- (R) Johnson, Wilson, Koehler, Gaddis, Walker, Householder. 3B -- (R) Householder.