Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (55-52, 23-19 2nd Half) swept a doubleheader from the Fredericksburg Nationals (67-42, 23-20) on Wednesday night, walking off game one 5-4 in the ninth inning, then shutting out Fredericksburg 4-0 over seven innings in the night cap. The winning night keeps Fayetteville in first place by a half game in the north division over Salem.
GAME 1
Action was suspended in the bottom of the third inning due to rain on Tuesday night with the Woodpeckers trailing 1-0. Fayetteville leveled the game 1-1 upon resuming on a double-play ball from Kevin Alvarez that scored Arturo Flores from third base.
Hunter Hines clubbed a three-run home run off Aubrey Smith that gave Fredericksburg a 4-1 lead in the top of the sixth.
The Woodpeckers started to chip away at the deficit with a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth to Aaron Piasecki. Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Owen Nowak connected for his first career triple and scored on a Piasecki groundout. Then with two outs in the inning, Rafael Ramirez Jr. committed a critical throwing error towards first base on a grounder from Luis De Leon. Instead of ending the frame, Jadyn Fielder scored from second base to tie the game at 4-4.
Mick Uebelhor (W, 1-0) took the mound for the top of the ninth and recorded the final out of the frame in his pro debut. Waner Luciano followed in the bottom of the ninth with the game-winning swing, tucking a line drive inside the left field line to score Kam Durnin from third for the 5-4 walk-off win.
Game 1 Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/827236/final/wrap
GAME 2
Fayetteville’s seven-inning shutout victory was carried the majority of the way by right-hander Juan Fraide who worked the first quality start of his career. The 20-year-old from Mexico struck out five and allowed just three hits. He also threw 53 of his 86 pitches for strikes and did not face more than five batters in any inning.
Fraide was provided early run support by Ben Tryon, the Astros 17th round pick of out Dallas Baptist, in the bottom of the second inning. In the first at bat of his professional career, Tryon slugged a solo homer off Marlon De La Cruz over the right field wall for a 1-0 lead.
Three more scored in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single from Arturo Flores and a two-out two-run base hit from Luis De Leon. Flores had three hits across the doubleheader and extended his team-high RBI lead with 52 on the season.
After six shutout frames from Fraide, Tazwell Butler made his home debut on the mound. The 10th round pick out of Kansas State coaxed a pair of groundouts and struck out Cashel Dugger to lock down the 4-0 victory.
Game 2 Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/827235/final/wrap