Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (51-47, 19-14 2nd Half) enjoyed another massive first inning on Friday night, exploding for eight runs out of the gates and rolling the Hill City Howlers (42-58, 11-23 2nd Half) 10-1 at Segra Stadium for a fifth straight victory.
Half of the eight first-inning runs scored on one big swing from Juan Sierra. A single and two walks from the starter Ryan Prager (L, 2-3) loaded the bases and Sierra capitalized with a deep blast onto the left field berm for a grand slam. Sierra has had a huge series at the plate, homering in three straight games and driving in ten runs over the stretch.
DJ Newman turned it into a six-run rally with a two-run homer over the right field wall and Josh Wakefield singled home a run to chase Prager from the game. Waner Luciano capped the eight-run onslaught with an RBI double off reliever Evan Chrest to break the game open 8-zip.
Nick Potter enjoyed the massive run support and worked through 4.0 innings in the start. His fastball touched 97 MPH and he struck out four while allowing one run on a bases-loaded walk in the second. The bullpen trio of Leomar Rosario, Rafael Gonzalez and Brandon Cassedy (W, 2-0) combined for five shutout innings and allowed just one single to Hill City over the back half of the game.
A sacrifice-fly from Newman in the sixth and an RBI groundout from Luciano in the seventh capped the 10-1 final. Newman has driven in three runs in back-to-back games and seven total runs across the series.
The Woodpeckers will look to make it six wins in a row and tie their longest streak of the season on Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM at Segra Stadium. Fayetteville is scheduled to start RHP Javier Perez opposite Hill City’s LHP Ryan DeSanto.
Full Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/827239/final/wrap