The Elizabethton River Riders dropped their fifth game in a row on Saturday in the series opener to the Johnson City Doughboys, 5-3.
Elizabethton (14-25) jumped out to an early lead against Johnson City (19-18) after Nick Hockemeyer (Purdue Fort Wayne) singled in the second to score two. Hockemeyer finished the night with one hit and two RBIs.
Johnson City tied the game in the fourth. Kyler Proctor (Oklahoma State) hit a two-run home run, his first of the season. He finished the night with one hit, two RBIs, and one run scored.
The Doughboys pulled ahead in the fifth, striking for three more runs. Nate Conner (Walters State Community College) doubled and Braden Spano (Milligan) hit a two-run home run. Spano finished the night with three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.
The River Riders only got one run back in the seventh and were held scoreless for the rest of the night. Cadyn Karl (Kansas State) hit a sacrifice fly to score Carlos Irizarry (Penn State Harrisburg). Karl finished the night without a hit but did pick up the RBI.
Evan Saulys (Siena) was tabbed with the loss for the River Riders. He pitched two innings in relief, allowed three hits and three runs and struck out two. The River Riders also got two innings from Zane Danielson (Purdue Fort Wayne) and one inning from Elijah Karney (New Orleans). Spencer Powell (University of Virginia at Wise) started for Elizabethton. He allowed seven hits, two runs, one walk and struck out five over four innings.
Owen Slater (Missouri State) got the win for Johnson City. He pitched six innings, allowed three hits, two runs, four walks and struck out two. The Doughboys also got one inning out of Andrew McCormick (Jacksonville State), one inning from Griffin Howell (Northern Kentucky) and one inning from Christian Toledo (Allegany College of Maryland). McCormick and Howell were both credited with holds and Toledo recorded his first save of the season.
Elizabethton finished with six hits and two errors. Johnson City finished with ten hits and no errors.
The River Riders will look for the series split on Sunday at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark against Johnson City in a seven-inning game. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.
