The River Riders won their first game of the season, beating the Bristol State Liners, 6-4.
Elizabethton starter Nash Bingham (University of Virginia-Wise) pitched three innings with six strikeouts and one walk. Center fielder Kain Collins (Charleston Southern) finished with two hits, while left fielder Colin Sloan (Yale) finished with three RBI.
Elizabethton (1-3) scored the first run of the game in the second inning against Bristol (3-1) after Carlos Irizarry (Penn State Harrisburg) singled up the middle.
Bristol answered with a two-run homer to take the lead in the third off the bat of Tyler Zedalis (South Carolina). The River Riders scored two more runs in the next half inning to regain the lead, after Adam Magpoc (Boston College) reached on an error and James Woody II (Grambling State) drove in a run on a fielder’s choice.
Bingham struck out six and allowed two runs on two hits with one walk over three innings of work.
The River Riders scored three more runs in the seventh inning thanks to a double from Sloan to left-center. Bristol scored two more runs in the eighth with Alex Cromwell (Towson) reaching base on an error.
Caden Carroll (Kennesaw State) got the win for Elizabethton. He pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief and struck out five while allowing only one hit and two runs (both unearned). Timmy Jones (Allegany College of Maryland) was tabbed with the loss for the State Liners. He tossed four innings and allowed four hits, two earned runs and two walks to go along with two strikeouts.
After Bingham, the River Riders also got two innings from Brandon Haston (Jackson State), 2 2/3 innings from Carroll, 1/3 of an inning from Johnny Montgomery (Allegany College of Maryland) and one inning from Myles Green (Southwest Mississippi Community College). Green got the save; Montgomery got the hold.
After Jones, Bristol got three innings of relief from Ethan Bobo (Lincoln Memorial), two innings from Noah Palmese (Erskine College) and one inning from Miles Smith (Walters State Community College).
At the plate for the River Riders, Collins went 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Sloan went 1-for-4 with three RBI and Magpoc finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
For Bristol, Zedalis went 1-for-4 with a home run. Dylan Schaefer (UNC Wilmington) and Esteban Garcia (Boston College) each went 1-for-3 and scored a run each.
Elizabethton finished the night with seven hits and three errors. Bristol finished with four hits and only one error.
Up next, the River Riders and State Liners will meet again for the series finale Sunday at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark, with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m.
