FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Wilson Warbirds used a four-run sixth inning to pull away from the Fayetteville Woodpeckers for a 10-4 victory Friday night at SEGRA Stadium.
Wilson (14-17) opened the scoring in the second inning when the Warbirds executed a double steal that allowed Filippo Di Turi to score for a 1-0 lead.
Fayetteville (12-19) answered in the bottom half of the inning, capitalizing on a throwing error to even the score at 1-1.
Jose Anderson quickly responded for Wilson in the third inning, blasting his team-leading seventh home run of the season to put the Warbirds back in front, 2-1. Wilson extended the lead to 3-1 in the fourth on an RBI double by Handelfry Encarnacion.
The Warbirds broke the game open in the sixth inning, scoring four runs. Pedro Ibarguen highlighted the frame with a two-run homer, his first of the season, giving Wilson a 7-1 advantage.
The Woodpeckers responded in the bottom of the sixth when a fielding error allowed three runs to score, trimming the deficit to 7-4.
That was as close as Fayetteville would get. Wilson added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings before Filippo Di Turi scored on a groundout in the ninth to cap the scoring at 10-4.
Anfrenny Reyes (W, 1-0) earned the win after tossing two innings of relief, while Joey Dixon (L, 0-1) took the loss after surrendering two runs over 3.1 innings.
Joshua Quezada (S, 1) recorded his first save of the season, allowing one hit and striking out four over the final three innings.
The penultimate game of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Wilson is expected to start left-hander Enderson Mercado (0-2, 6.75 ERA), while Fayetteville will counter with right-hander Ryan Forcucci (0-2, 19.29 ERA).