Keys Even Series With 12-1 Throttling of Carolina

ZEBULON, N.C. - Frederick's Daniel Fajardo went 3-for-4 with five RBI, Randolph Gassaway went 3-for-5 with two RBI and Steven Klimek struck out five over three innings while earning the win as the Keys throttled the Mudcats 12-1 on Tuesday night at Five County Stadium.

The Mudcats (4-2) needed six pitchers to get through Tuesday's series tying loss to the visiting Keys (4-2). Those six pitchers, Braden Webb, Alec Kenilvort, Luke Barker, Nattino Diplan, Daniel Brown and Cooper Hummel, combined to walk 11 and allow 12 runs (nine earned) on 12 hits. They also combined on 230 pitches, with only 130 landing for strikes.
Webb (0-1, 10.80) started and left in the second after walking three and allowing two runs and two hits. He needed just 10 pitches to get through the first, but reached nearly 40 pitches while recording only two outs in the second. Webb worked through just an inning and 2/3 with one strikeout while suffering the loss in his season debut.
Kenilvort followed Webb and managed to escape the two run Frederick second after the Mudcats caught the Keys in a double steal to end the frame. He then pitched a scoreless third before allowing six runs (four earned) in the fourth.
In all, the Keys managed to get seven runs across in the fourth and did so on just three hits in the inning. Their first run came across on a Kenilvort wild pitch, but the next two came in off the bat of Fajardo and his bases loaded single to left. Fajardo also had a two-run single in the second and was 3-for-4 with five RBI and a run for the Keys in their series tying victory.
Gassaway also had a run scoring double in the fourth, but his hit came Barker who had taken over for Kenilvort. Barker inherited a bases loaded jam in the fourth and went on to see all three runners score. He did, however, stay for the fifth and sixth innings and went on to pitch through two and 2/3 with a run allowed on four hits and one strikeout.
Barker's appearance in the game was the longest for the Carolina pitching staff as both Webb and Kenilvort pitched through an inning and 2/3 apiece. Diplan followed Barker and recorded just two outs before reaching 38 pitches and exiting the game. Brown threw one pitch to end a seventh inning jam inherited from Diplan and later finished a scoreless eighth, before giving way to a position player in Hummel who entered off the bench to finish the game on the mound for the Mudcats.
The Keys scored twice in the second, seven times in the fourth and later added two runs in the seventh and one more in the ninth while defeating the Mudcats to even the three game series at a game apiece. Fajardo led the way with five RBI, Gassaway had three hits and Ryan McKenna went 2-for-6 with two RBI in the 12-1 Frederick victory.
Carolina's lone run of the game came in the first when Ronnie Gideon scored in Tucker Neuhaus with a two-out single to left. Neuhaus reached earlier in the inning on a single of his own, before going from first to third on a groundout to short from Clint Coulter. Neuhaus finished 1-for-5 in the loss, but ran his current hit streak to six straight games. Gideon went 2-for-3 with a RBI for Carolina as well.
The Mudcats also left 11 men on base in the loss while going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Dallas Carroll was 0-for-5 in the game and left the bases loaded twice.
Ofelky Peralta started for the Keys and worked through four innings with three hits and one run allowed. He also walked four and struck out four in his season debut. Klimek (2-0, 0.00) earned the victory after going three scoreless frames with five strikeouts. Branded Kline later finished the game with two scoreless innings and four strikeouts.
The loss dropped the Mudcats into a 1-1 tie with the Keys in the three game series. Carolina will next try to take the series finale on Wednesday morning at Five County Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Five County Stadium. The game will feature a pitching match up of RHP Marcos Diplan starting for the Mudcats and LHP Alex Wells going for the Keys.
The game will air on the Mudcats Radio Network, online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio. It will also stream via live video on MiLB.tv.
# # #