Riverdogs top Merchants 6-5

The Cape Riverdogs won their opening game, 6-5 against the Southern Illinois Merchants on Thursday afternoon at Shawnee Community College in Illinois.

Greg Craft singled to drive in a run in a top of the ninth inning, and David Mathis pitched his third straight scoreless inning in the bottom half to get the win.

Craft finished with two hits. Shane Gibson and Bryan Austin also had two hits each for the Riverdogs.

Billy Palmer had a two-run double in the three-run third inning that put the Riverdogs ahead.

The Merchants scored one in the fourth and four in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead. The Riverdogs scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings before adding the winning run in the ninth.

The Riverdogs play a doubleheader Sunday at Evansville, Ind.