Woodpeckers’ Late Surge Not Enough in Loss to Pelicans
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (32-41, 3-4) made a late push Friday night at Pelicans Ballpark, but ultimately fell just short in a 9-7 loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (32-41, 3-4). The win for the Pelicans evens the series at two games apiece after Fayetteville took the
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (32-41, 3-4) made a late push Friday night at Pelicans Ballpark, but ultimately fell just short in a 9-7 loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (32-41, 3-4). The win for the Pelicans evens the series at two games apiece after Fayetteville took the first two contests this week.
Myrtle Beach struck first in the bottom of the first on a run-scoring wild pitch from Woodpeckers starter Colby Langford, who was relieved by Wilmy Sanchez with the bases loaded and two outs. Sanchez picked up a big strikeout to minimize the damage and ultimately tossed two and a third scoreless frames.
Fayetteville tied the game in the third inning when Yamal Encarnacion singled home Will Bush. The following frame, Alejandro Nunez ripped a base hit up the middle to plate Cesar Hernandez and give the Woodpeckers the lead. However, the Pelicans responded in the bottom half of the fourth with three unearned runs allowed by Yeriel Santos (L, 3-4).
In the top of the fifth, Fayetteville managed to load the bases with two outs. Juan Santander then hit a grounder to third which was thrown away by Myrtle Beach third baseman Reggie Preciado and allowed two runs to come in to retie the game at four.
After a scoreless fifth, Santos ran into some more trouble in the sixth. With two on and two outs, Andy Garriola lined an RBI single to left to give the Pelicans the lead once more. The next batter was Frank Hernandez, who singled home another for the 6-4 advantage. Abel Mercedes came on in the seventh and allowed a trio of runs on two wild pitches and a passed ball charged to Will Bush.
Trailing by five, the Woodpeckers made some headway in the eighth following the departure of Myrtle Beach reliever Nico Zeglin (W, 4-0), who did not allow an earned run over three innings. Four straight hits including an RBI single by Will Bush made it a 9-5 game and loaded the bases with no outs. Fayetteville grabbed two more runs on groundouts from Alberto Hernandez and Encarnacion, but Vince Reilly settled in afterwards and threw a scoreless ninth to secure the win for the Pelicans.
With the series now level, both teams will battle for the upper hand on Saturday night. RHP Alain Pena gets the start for the Woodpeckers while Myrtle Beach is expected to send RHP JP Wheat to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.