Lynchburg Bashes Barnes, Completes Sweep over Salem

Lynchburg, VA (June 23, 2012) - The Salem Sox pounded 13 hits one night after getting no-hit, but the Hillcats cashed in more frequently for an 8-5 victory on Saturday night at City Stadium to complete the three-game series sweep. Matt Barnes struggled through his shortest outing as a pro, lasting just three and two-thirds innings and surrendering a career-high five runs. Salem overcame a 5-1 deficit to tie it up in the sixth, but Lynchburg quickly responded with Matt Weaver belting a two-run bomb that gave the Cats the lead for good. The win was Lynchburg's seventh straight, while Salem has lost four in a row, matching its longest losing streak of its season.

Unlike Friday night when Aaron Northcraft no-hit the Red Sox, Salem created offense in the first inning on Saturday, with Shannon Wilkerson and Heiker Meneses delivering back-to-back singles to start the game against Hillcat starter Dimaster Delgado. But the Sox failed to capitalize on any of their early opportunities, stranding baserunners in each of their first three innings.

Meanwhile, Barnes surrendered just the second home run of his season in the last of the first, with his college teammate Nick Ahmed taking him yard over the left-field fence. Barnes pitched around a leadoff single in the second, but the Hillcats loaded the bases with nobody out in the third, scoring once on Tommy La Stella's sacrifice fly to center field.

Up 2-0, the Hillcats loaded the bases again in the fourth with nobody out, scoring three runs and knocking Barnes out of the ballgame. The righthander, who entered the night with the best ERA in minor league baseball, surrendered five runs (all earned) on six hits in three and two-thirds innings, with three strikeouts, two walks, and one hit-batter. His full-season ERA rose from 0.99 to 1.53, dropping him to third in the minors behind Frisco's (and formerly Myrtle Beach's) Cody Buckel and Richmond's Chris Heston.

Xander Bogaerts belted his tenth homer of the season, a solo shot in the top of the fourth, to make the score 2-1, but the Hillcats' three-run fifth surged Lynchburg to a 5-1 lead. Salem countered with a three-run top of the fifth, capitalizing on three-straight hits from Vazquez, Sean Coyle, and Lucas LeBlanc at the bottom of the order. In the sixth, Vazquez crushed a solo homer to tie the game at five, his third dinger of the season.

Lynchburg's offense retaliated with Weaver's two-run shot transforming the score again in the last of the sixth. The game-changing round-tripper against Andrew Jones put the Cats up 7-5, and Chris Garcia belted a solo bomb off Ruben Flores in the seventh to make it 8-5. Juan Jaime recorded the final six outs for the Hillcats, earning his 14th save of the season.

Coyle led the Red Sox with three hits, while Meneses, Bogaerts, Vazquez, and LeBlanc each enjoyed multi-hit nights. Six different Hillcats finished with multiple hits, while seven Lynchburg batters drove in a run.

Salem's seven-game road trip continues on Sunday in North Carolina, with the Sox scheduled to battle the Winston-Salem Dash at BB&T Ballpark. First pitch is set for 5:00 PM, with Brandon Workman slated to face Blair Walters.