The Hill City Howlers struggled through game one of their series with the Charleston RiverDogs, falling 9-2, on Wednesday.
Blake Morgan, the starter for the RiverDogs, made life miserable for the Howlers, working six innings, only giving up one run and striking out four. The Howlers finished with a total of five hits on the night.
Charleston used three separate three-run frames to catapult to their lead. In the top of the first inning, Cooper Flemming brought a run in with an RBI single. Brady Marget doubled later in the frame, scoring two more to put the RiverDogs up three.
In the fifth, Brody Donay singled home a run before Nicandro Aybar brought home another with a single of his own. Later in the frame, Angel Mateo scored a third with another single before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double, pushing Charleston up 6-0.
The RiverDogs piled on again in the sixth as Flemming brought home another with a double. Marget and Donay each scored a run later in the inning, extending the Charleston lead up to nine.
The Howlers finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as Dauri Fernandez blasted his third homer of the year on a fly ball to left. He did more damage in the eighth as his single allowed Gabriel Rodriguez to score.
Hill City never got any closer as they dropped game one of the series. Game two takes place on Thursday evening at City Stadium with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at hchowlers.com.