For the third straight night, Fayetteville poured on at least six runs in route to a win. Opening their series in Zebulon against the Carolina Mudcats, the Woodpeckers walked away with a 6-1 win. It was a night highlighted not only by Seth Beer hitting his first home run of
For the third straight night, Fayetteville poured on at least six runs in route to a win. Opening their series in Zebulon against the Carolina Mudcats, the Woodpeckers walked away with a 6-1 win. It was a night highlighted not only by Seth Beer hitting his first home run of the year, but also by a trio of Woodpeckers pitchers racking up 17 strikeouts by the end of the evening. With their eighth win of the season, Fayetteville stays atop the South Division in the Carolina League, tied with the Down East Wood Ducks.
It has become a more common trend for the Woodpeckers offense to get started early, and this game was no exception. Bryan De La Cruz hit a sun-aided double to right field to open the night against Mudcats starter Bowden Francis. (1-1) After a walk and a double steal, a pair of singles from Jake Adams and Jake Meyers brought both runners home.
The early lead was more than enough for Bryan Abreu to work with. Making his second start of the season, Abreu set down the first nine batters in order before giving up a hit. That hit, a solo home run, was the only offense of the evening for Carolina. Abreu shook off the long ball and went on to strike out 10 batters in 4 2/3 innings of work, the second most by a Woodpeckers starter this season.
With the lead trimmed to just one run, Seth Beer took matters into his own hands in the fifth inning. The top prospect launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, over the 23-foot wall in right-center field to push the lead to three runs. Fayetteville kept the pressure on through the rest of the evening, scoring a run in the sixth and seventh inning, while putting runners in scoring position in every inning after the fifth. Adams was quietly the top performer at the plate, collecting his second career four-hit game on a 4-for-5 day.
Taking the reins from Bryan Abreu, Leovanny Rodriguez (1-0) danced around a bit of trouble in the fifth inning, but he logged a scoreless outing with a pair of strikeouts to earn the save. Following Rodriguez, southpaw Parker Mushinski came in to toss three scoreless innings with a season-high five strikeouts to earn the long save.
With the win, Fayetteville secures a successful roadtrip, taking eight of the first 11 games in their fortnight away from home. The Woodpeckers will get a chance to take their third straight series tomorrow night as they play the middle contest with Carolina. Righty Chad Donato will take the mound for Fayetteville, hunting for his second win of the season, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 PM.
