Lopez leads Riverside baseball rally past Fountain Inn

Riverside’s Leo Lopez came through for the Warriors in the bottom of the fifth inning, bringing home two runners and tying the game on a line drive single to left field.

Despite trailing 5-1 in the fifth inning, Riverside baseball rallied on Thursday night to beat Fountain Inn, 6-5.

The Warriors found themselves down four runs in the bottom of the fifth but cut the deficit to 5-3 before a two-run single from Leo Lopez leveled the score.

Lopez was 0-3 for the game before the at-bat.

“Starting 0 for 3, I’m not going to lie, I was in my head,” said Lopez after the game. “I needed that at-bat to boost my confidence for the game.

“I knew I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I didn’t get a hit in that spot.”

Lopez came through with a two-out, two-run line drive to left center to tie the game.

“Leo came up big for us,” said Riverside head coach Michael Pettit. “We needed a timely hit, and he stepped up and made a play.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Luke Westrol drew a walk-off walk with the bases loaded to plate Dru Nelson, securing Riverside’s first win of the season.

Sophomore pitcher Tyson Fine—who pitched three solid innings in relief—earned his first career win on the mound.

“It’s always good to get that first one. I’m really excited for the guys,” said Pettit. “I’m a firm believer that iron sharpens iron. We had a tough go to start the season against some really good opponents to start the season, but this one will help us bounce back.”

Riverside went 0-4 in the Shipyard Showdown tournament in Charleston to begin the season, but have since found their form. After besting Fountain Inn, the Warriors followed up the win with a 16-6 trouncing of Woodmont the following night.

“There are still some things we need to build on, but we feel like we’re trending in the right direction,” said Pettit. “We play a lot of tough teams, especially when region play starts, so we need to be ready to go every single night.”

THE SCORE BY INNINGS
Fountain Inn
1 0 1 0 3 0 0 - 5
Riverside
0 0 1 0 4 0 1 - 6

RIVERSIDE STAT LEADERS
Leo Lopez - 1-4, 2 RBI, BB
Luke Westrol - 1-2, RBI, R, 3 BB
Brody Koss - 2-4, R

Winning Pitcher: Tyson Fine - 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 Ks