WOODBRIDGE, VA - The Mudcats suffered their most lopsided loss of the season after falling to the Nationals 15-2 at Northwest Federal Field in Potomac on Thursday night. Payton Henry went 2-for-4 with two doubles and Rob Henry went 2-for-4 with a double in the second half opening loss for
WOODBRIDGE, VA - The Mudcats suffered their most lopsided loss of the season after falling to the Nationals 15-2 at Northwest Federal Field in Potomac on Thursday night. Payton Henry went 2-for-4 with two doubles and Rob Henry went 2-for-4 with a double in the second half opening loss for Carolina.
Potomac's Jackson Reetz led the way after turning in a career night while going 3-for-5 with two home runs, a triple and five RBI for the Nationals (1-0). Potomac also had big nights from Cole Freeman who went 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI and KJ Harrison, Anderson Franco and Osvaldo Abreu who all had two hits in the lopsided victory.
Carolina (0-1) did lead first in the game at 1-0 after Tristen Lutz brought across the game's first run with a sacrifice fly in the third. That lone Carolina run in the third came in off starter Kyle Johnston and was the only blemish on his quality outing. Johnston (W, 7-7, 4.41) struck out seven, walked one and allowed an unearned run on five hits over six innings en route to the series opening victory.
The Nationals were down 1-0 in the third, but quickly answered back while rallying for seven runs in the third to take a 7-1 lead. They went on to add one more in the fifth, four in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth while taking the series opener 15-2.
Braden Webb started and was only able to pitch through the first before leaving the game. Webb allowed a hit, but faced just three batters in the opening frame on 17 pitches (9 strikes) before departing.
Reliever Cody Beckman followed in the second and was able to work a scoreless second before losing a 1-0 Carolina lead after allowing seven runs on five hits. Beckman (L, 2-3, 3.31) nearly worked all the way through the Potomac third, but Reetz's three-run homer knocked him out of the game. Beckman allowed seven runs (three earned) on six hits, walked one and struck out two while taking the loss. He was also charged with a throwing error in the third that allowed two Potomac runs to score.
Reliever J.T. Hintzen followed Beckman and was able to take Carolina into the sixth before working his way into a bases loaded jam. All three of the runners left on in the sixth went on to score, thus closing the book on Hintzen at five earned runs on five hits over two and 1/3 innings pitched. Hintzen struck out two and walked one while reaching 59 pitches (41 strikes). He also allowed a two-out solo homer to Telmito Agustin in the fifth before leaving with the bases loaded in the sixth.
Phil Bickford eventually took over for Hintzen in the sixth and would end up pitching through two full innings in the game for the Mudcats. Bickford allowed all three inherited runners to score in the sixth and also allowed a solo home run to Reetz in the seventh. In all, Bickford allowed two runs on four hits and struck out five over two innings pitched.
Michael Petersen was the final Carolina reliever in the game as he worked the eighth. Petersen allowed a run, allowed one hit, walked one and struck out one in his appearance.
Carolina had just the one run against Johnston and later added one more against reliever Carson Teel in the seventh when Ryan Aguilar brought in Zach Clark with a sacrifice fly to center.
Carolina scored just the two runs in Thursday's second half opener, but had plenty of chances to add more as they finished the game 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position. They also had leadoff doubles in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings, but did not score in any of those frames.
Payton Henry doubled to start the second and fourth and went 2-for-4 in the loss. Rob Henry went 2-for-4 with a first inning double, but struck out twice and did not score in the game. Devin Hairston also had a two hit game while going 2-for-4 with a double and a run.
The lopsided loss was Carolina's worst of the season as they were outscored by 13 runs in Thursday's game. The Mudcats also set a season high for runs allowed with 15 and allowed their second most hits in a game with 17 allowed in the series opener.
The series will continue on Friday night with LHP Aaron Ashby (0-0, 0.00) starting for the Mudcats opposite LHP Nick Raquet (5-6, 4.97). The game will air live on the Mudcats Radio Network, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio.
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