Five Columbus pitchers limited Charleston to only five hits as the Catfish handled the RiverDogs, 3-1, in South Atlantic League action Monday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
It was the final game of the 2006 season for both clubs.
With the loss, the RiverDogs finish the second half with a 40-30 mark and at 78-62 overall while the Catfish improve to 35-35 in the second half and 72-68 overall.
The RiverDogs conclude the ’06 campaign 17 games above .500 and were 21-11 since August 1, as they finish the season with the third best overall record in the 16-team South Atlantic League.
Dave Preziosi, who pitched only 1/3 of an inning and struck out the only batter he faced, earned his first win of the season. Starter Joey Norrito lasted five frames and permitted three hits, and was followed by Joe Jones, who pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed one knock.
Francisco Felix pitched 1.2 frames and gave up one hit and Matt Gomez de Segura, the fifth Columbus hurler, pitched the final 1.1 innings to collect his sixth save of the season.
The Catfish took a 2-1 lead when Juan Rivera opened the seventh inning with an infield single and moved to third on a single by Travis Denker. Rivera scored when Lucas May hit into a double-play.
Columbus added an insurance run in the final frame when May tripled and scored when Eduardo Perez reached first base as RiverDogs shortstop Eduardo Nunez could not find the handle on the ball hit up the middle.
Charleston took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Jeff Beachum led off by reaching on a throwing error, and J.T. LaFountain followed and was hit by a pitch. With runners on first and second, Austin Jackson singled to right center and plated Beachum.
Columbus knotted the score at 1-1 in the fifth when May led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on Perez’s ground out. David Sutherland brought May home with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Charleston starter Christian Garcia (2-3) pitched 7.1 innings and allowed two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out a pair of Catfish. Gabe Medina threw 2/3 of an inning and allowed two hits and Zach Kroenke pitched the ninth and allowed one run while striking out two.
Jackson, Josue Calzado, Ben Jones, Joe Muich and Nunez had one hit each for Charleston while Rivera and May each collected two of Columbus’ seven hits.
With Monday night’s attendance of 4,142, the RiverDogs entertained 267,908 fans throughout the home campaign which establishes a new high for professional baseball in Charleston. The 3,998 average per game was also a record.
