CHARLESTON, S.C. — Savannah right-hander Robert Gsellman held Charleston scoreless for seven innings while winning his fourth straight decision as the Sand Gnats blanked the RiverDogs 4-0 on Wednesday night at Riley Park.
Gsellman, 20, scattered just five hits, walking two and striking out four, to improve to 6-3.
Dawrin Frias, who entered with the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth inning, recorded the final six outs and notched his first save.
Savannah used some clutch two-out hitting to score its first runs in the third inning. With Stefan Sabol on second and two outs, Champ Stuart singled to drive in Sabol. The next batter, Yeixon Ruiz, doubled in Stuart to make it 2-0.
Sabol, who had two hits to raise his batting average to .199, led off the seventh with a double. Jonathan Johnson followed with a walk. Three batters later, Victor Cruzado came up with another Savannah two-out hit, driving in two to make it 4-0.
Charleston, an affiliate of the New York Yankees, threatened in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases before Frias entered. But Frias struck out Michael O’Neill and got Gosuke Katoh to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
Savannah finishes its series with the RiverDogs tonight at 7:05 before returning home to Grayson Stadium to host the Rome Braves on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Savannah ab r h bi Charleston ab r h bi
Stuart cf 4 1 2 1 O’Neill rf 3 0 0 0
Ruiz ss 4 1 1 1 Katoh 2b 4 0 0 0
Cruzado rf 4 0 1 1 Fowler cf 1 0 0 0
Smith 1b 4 0 2 0 Wade ss 3 0 1 0
Oberste dh 4 0 1 0 Valera c 4 0 0 0
Rivero 3b 4 0 0 0 Ford 1b 4 0 1 0
Plaia c 4 0 0 0 Sumner dh 2 0 0 0
Sabol lf 3 2 2 0 Andujar 3b 3 0 2 0
Johnson 2b 3 0 2 0 Murphy ss 2 0 0 0
Thomas lf 3 0 1 0
Totals 34 4 11 3 Totals 29 0 5 0
Savannah 002 000 200 — 4
Charleston 000 000 000 — 0
E—Murphy, Katoh, Andujar. DP—Savannah 3, Charleston 3. LOB—Savannah 7, Charleston 5. 2B—Ruiz, Smith, Sabol. SB—Sabol, Johnson, Ruiz. CS—Smith, Cruzado.
SAVANNAH IP H R ER BB SO
Gsellman W,6-3 7 5 0 0 2 4
Frias S,1 2 0 0 0 0 3
CHARLESTON IP H R ER BB SO
Hebert L,0-1 5 7 2 2 2 6
Gallegos 2 3 2 1 1 0
Rutckyj 2 1 0 0 1 4
WP—Hebert 2, Rutckyj. HBP—O’Neill (by Gsellman). T—3:00. A—3,197.