SALEM, VA - The Fredericksburg Nationals ran past Salem on Saturday night for their second straight win, taking the series lead three games to two with an 11-4 victory. The win marks the first time the FredNats have won two straight in the series, and is the first time all season in which the offense has scored double figure runs in two straight games.
Luke Dickerson got the FredNats started, homering over the left field fence in the first to make it 1-0. After Salem tied it in the second, the FredNats would jump back in front in the fourth, taking three straight walks to lead off the inning before an RBI groundout by Sir Jamison Jones and a sacrifice fly by Jack Moroknek. In the fifth, the FredNats padded their lead with some aggressive baserunning by Eli Willits, who scored from first on a single after the throw from the outfield hit him and bounced toward the Salem dugout. The fourth and fifth were just a preview of what was to come for the Fredericksburg offense, which activated in full force in the sixth and seventh.
In the sixth, a leadoff Jacob Walsh walk was followed by a Jack Moroknek single to extend his league-leading hit streak to 14 games, with three more FredNats reaching in the inning highlighted by an Eli Willits double to cap off a four run frame. After a run from Salem in the bottom of the sixth the FredNats returned offense in the seventh, with a leadoff double from Yeremy Cabrera and a walk from Jamison Jones, runners which were promptly blasted in by Jack Moroknek’s second home run over the last two games, making it 11-2. After two scoreless innings, Jonah Conradt allowed two runs (one earned) in the ninth, but held the large lead to cap off a nine-out save and secure the 11-4 win.
With the victory, the FredNats stay atop the division and improve to 13-7 at the 20 game mark, the second best record in the Carolina League. The series concludes as the FredNats go for a win on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch set for 2:05 p.m. RHP Leuris Portorreal makes his second start of the series, and faces RHP Dalvinson Reyes.