The River Riders lost the third and final game of a weekend series against the Bristol State Liners, 11-6, on Sunday.
Elizabethton starter Christian Pencek (Lincoln Memorial) pitched three innings with four strikeouts and three walks. Center fielder Jaxon Diamond (Columbia State Community College) finished with three hits and an RBI.
Elizabethton (1-4) fell behind early to Bristol (4-1) after Tyler Zedalis (South Carolina) hit a two-run home run to left field in the first inning. The River Riders scored a run in the first after Adam Magpoc (Boston College) singled. Joey LaMattina (Lincoln Memorial) homered in the second inning to tie the game.
Bristol blew it open in the third with another home run by Zedalis. Canon Pierce (UNC Asheville) singled later in the inning, giving Bristol a 6-2 lead. The State Liners stretched the lead to seven off of a double by Hayden Blair (Walters State Community College), an RBI groundout by Alex Cromwell (Towson) and a sacrifice fly by Esteban Garcia (Boston College).
In three innings for Pencek, he allowed six earned runs on eight hits and two home runs.
Bristol added another run in the fifth inning off of a Hayden Blair groundout to first baseman Tanner Waldrop (Auburn). Elizabethton got two runs back off of a Waldrop single in the fifth, scoring Magpoc and Diamond.
The River Riders added two more runs in the sixth inning off of a Diamond single and a hit-by-pitch for Austin Hartsell (Boston College). The River Riders left the bases loaded in that inning.
Bristol added another run in the seventh inning off of a Dylan Schaefer single.
Eli Edds (Lincoln Memorial) got the win for Bristol. He pitched three innings as the starter and struck out six while allowing five hits and two earned runs. Pencek was tabbed with the loss for the River Riders, pitching three innings, allowing eight hits, six earned runs and three walks with four strikeouts.
After Pencek, the River Riders also got two innings from Jace Behnke (Chandler-Gilbert Community College) and two innings from Johnny Montgomery (Allegany College of Maryland).
After Edds, Bristol got two innings of relief from Landon Fulk (Johnson County Community College), one inning from Drew Norris (Johnson County Community College) and one inning from Zach Neville (Allegany College of Maryland).
Diamond went 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored two runs for the River Riders. Magpoc went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk. Kain Collins (Charleston Southern) finished 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
For Bristol, Zedalis went 2-for-4 with two home runs, totaling five RBI and three runs scored. Schaefer went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and Pierce went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Elizabethton finished the night with 10 hits and one error. Bristol finished with 13 hits and two errors.
Up next, the River Riders will stay at home at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark for their first series against the east division, taking on the Burlington Sock Puppets with first pitch set for 7 p.m.
