The Winston-Salem Dash (15-9) mounted a late rally but could not complete the comeback, falling to the Greensboro Grasshoppers (14-10), 4-3 at Truist Stadium.
The Dash were down to their last out when Ryan Burrowes stepped in.
Moments later, they had life.
Burrowes smoked a double off the right field wall and put himself, the tying run, at second base.
Then it came down to Caleb Bonemer. The third-best prospect in the Dash system had homered four times in the previous two games.
But this time, Bonemer came up just short as Matt Ager recorded the save and sealed the 4-3 win for Greensboro.
Greensboro jumped out quickly in the first inning. A run-scoring single from Easton Carmichael and a sacrifice fly gave the Grasshoppers an early 2-0 lead.
Winston-Salem answered in the bottom half of the inning, as Anthony DePino lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Burrowes and cut the deficit to 2-1.
The game stayed tight until the fifth, when Greensboro created separation. A pair of stolen bases set up a two-run double from Jared Jones, extending the lead to 4-1.
The Dash chipped away in the seventh. Grant Magill sparked the rally with a triple before Alex Ungar drove him in with an RBI double. Later in the inning, Bonemer added an RBI single to trim the deficit to 4-3.
Winston-Salem had chances throughout the night but struggled to capitalize. The Grasshoppers turned three double plays en route to the one-run victory.
Winston-Salem will look to bounce back as the series continues on Friday May, 1st.