Twin Rivers pitcher Ryan Tompkins prepares to deliver a pitch during Thursday's win over Greenville. (Brad Hurt/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

BROSELEY -- A third-inning onslaught by Twin Rivers buried the Greenville Bears as the Royals battered their way to a 13-2 win in five innings Thursday.

After scoring four runs in the first two innings, the Royals (4-2) put seven of their runs on the board in the third, sending 11 batters to the plate and collecting six hits to knock Bears starter Tyler Dougherty out of the game.

"We hit the ball pretty good," Twin Rivers coach Jeff Null said. "We've been seeing some pretty fast pitching and (Dougherty) was throwing a little bit slower. It took us a couple of hitters to make the adjustment."

Dylan Stockton led off the third with a ground-rule double that hopped over the left-field fence and scored on a single by Tyler Zoll. Jordan Fowler walked after Stockton's hit and scored on a single to center by Russ Miller, which led to Dougherty's exit.

Holden Madison drove in Miller off of reliever Tim Hill, and Hill walked Dustin Tinsley to set up a 2-run double for Cody Russom for a 10-2 Royals lead.

Russom scored on a single to center by Garrett Stockton, who was stranded on second as Hill retired the next two hitters to bring the inning to a close with the Royals on top 11-2.

"When they started jumping on the ball, it was contagious," Greenville coach Jason Hill said. "Before you know it, they pile it up on you pretty quick."

Royals pitcher Ryan Tompkins held the Bears (5-4) to three hits and struck out five in four innings.

One of his few mistakes was a two-run home run by Tim Hill in the third inning that cut the Royals' lead in half, 4-2.

"Ryan threw a good ballgame," Null said. "He made one bad pitch to their best hitter. You don't want to let that one guy hurt you."

Dougherty retired the first two batters he faced in the game before running into trouble. He allowed a double to Dylan Stockton and an RBI single to Fowler before getting out of the inning on a groundout by Colton Vancil.

Tyler Zoll walked to start the second inning, and after a single by Miller, Madison doubled to score both runners and give the Royals a 4-0 lead.

Dougherty allowed nine runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out two in 2 1/3 innings.

"Tyler wasn't locating real well," coach Hill said. "Everything was up, and good hitting teams are going to jump all over that ball up in the zone. …

"(Tompkins) stayed down in the zone and hit his spots, and that's probably what made the difference for them."

Madison and Miller each went 3-for-3 to lead Twin Rivers. Madison scored twice and drove in four runs while Miller scored three runs and drove in another. Dylan Stockton went 2-for-3 and scored twice in the win.

Greenville was led by Hill, who went 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI on his home run. Nick Wren had the other hit for the Bears.

"We can learn something from this game," Null said. "It's a conference win, and Greenville has played pretty good so far this year, so it's a good 'W.'"