'Cats Bats Go Quiet, Mudcats Down Lynchburg

The Carolina Mudcats buried the Lynchburg Hillcats 7-3 on Wednesday evening, further dampening their playoff chances.

After a torrid start, both teams quieted down before the Mudcats found their groove late in the evening. Lynchburg would be strapped with six straight one-two-three innings during the night.

The Mudcats erupted early off Caden Favors as a two-run blast from Eric Bitonti would give them the comfortable advantage. They would add another later in the frame on a Luis Castillo RBI-single, pushing the lead to three after the first.

Lynchburg would respond in the second as Ryan Cesarini would extend his hit streak to six with a triple, driving home Garrett Howe. Barrett Riebock would follow suit with a single to left, cutting the deficit down to one.

After the bullpen’s would dominate, Carolina would break through in the top of the eighth inning. After barely missing one earlier in the evening, Luis Castillo deposited a liner over the right field wall for his 18th home run of the season, putting Lynchburg down 4-2.

The Mudcats would pour it on in the ninth inning as Reny Artiles would lose his command and bring home a runner with a wild pitch. A ground out by Daniel Guilarte would add a second before a throwing error by Welbyn Francisca would drive home a third in the ninth, making it 7-2 Carolina.

A quiet night from Lynchburg hitting as they would go 19 batters in a row without a baserunner before Luis Merejo would rope a single in the ninth. Garrett Howe would drive home a runner in the ninth after a single and an error put him on third, but that would be as close as the Hillcats would get.

Tickets for Thursday night’s matchup can be purchased at Lynchburg-hillcats.com.