ZEBULON, N.C. - Cooper Hummel and Dallas Carroll combined to drive in two, two-out runs in the eighth to tie it at 2-2 and Max McDowell forced in Ryan Aguilar from second in the tenth as the Mudcats rallied back late to defeat the Wood Ducks 3-2 in ten innings
ZEBULON, N.C. - Cooper Hummel and Dallas Carroll combined to drive in two, two-out runs in the eighth to tie it at 2-2 and Max McDowell forced in Ryan Aguilar from second in the tenth as the Mudcats rallied back late to defeat the Wood Ducks 3-2 in ten innings on Wednesday night at Five County Stadium.
McDowell started the Carolina (28-30) tenth by hitting a sharp grounder to short that Anderson Tejeda attempted to use to get an out at third by throwing ahead of Aguilar. Tejeda's throw hit Aguilar and then skipped away into foul territory, allowing Aguilar to then score from third as the game-winning run. The victory was Carolina's fourth in extra innings this season and their third walk-off in extras against the Wood Ducks (31-37) at Five County Stadium as well.
The Wood Ducks originally led early after scoring a run in the first and second innings while taking a 2-0 lead on starter Marcos Diplan and the Mudcats. Their 2-0 lead held through the seventh and into the eighth before the Mudcats broke through with two, two-out runs to tie the game in the eighth.
Reliever Jacob Shortslef started the eighth in place of starter Edgar Arredondo and was immediately greeted by a leadoff single from Luis Aviles Jr. Jr. Aviles later stole second, but was stuck there as Shortslef (BS, 4) went on to retire both Aguilar and McDowell, but Cooper Hummel then drove in Aviles from second with a two-out RBI single to cut the lead down to 2-1. Jacob Lemoine (1-3, 3.75) was then brought into the game and would end up walking Joangtel Segovia before eventually giving up a game-tying, two-out RBI single to Carroll.
The two run Carolina eighth tied the game and reliever Luke Barker would go on to pitch through the ninth and tenth while holding the tie and eventually earning the win. Barker (4-0, 1.86) pitched around a single and error while holding the Wood Ducks scoreless in the ninth. He then worked through a bases loaded jam in the tenth while keeping the Wood Ducks without a run in the tenth.
Barker finished the tenth by striking out Alex Kowalczyk with the bases loaded to escape the tenth unscathed. In all, he struck out four, walked two and worked through two scoreless innings while earning the victory.
Arredondo had been in line for the win after shutting the Mudcats down over seven scoreless innings. He also allowed just two hits and finished without issuing a walk while working to a 85 game score.
Diplan started for the Mudcats and ended up working through five innings with seven strikeouts. He also allowed the two early Down East runs in the first and second, but ended up scattering just five hits and walked two while reaching 91 pitches (59 strikes).
Diplan was followed by Chase Williams who pitched through a scoreless sixth and seventh while totaling a strikeout and a walk. Daniel Brown followed with a scoreless eighth and struck out one before giving way to Barker who then finished the game.
The walk-off victory snapped Carolina's losing streak at four straight games and pulled them within 4.5 games of the first in the first half Southern Division Standings. Their elimination number also held at eight as the Winston-Salem Dash also lost on Wednesday night.
Carolina is now tied with the Wood Ducks at a game apiece in the series. The series finale is set for Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at Five County Stadium. The game will air on the Mudcats Radio Network, the Big Dawg 98.5 FM and via TuneIn Radio at carolinamudcats.com. It will also stream via live video on MiLB.tv.
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