Hillcats Drop Third in a Row to Potomac, 4-2

Kyle Wren notched his fourth multi-hit game in the last five days and added his league-leading 13th stolen base of the season, but Lynchburg's offense struggled overall and dropped the series finale against Potomac, 4-2, at Calvin Falwell Field Monday night.

Trailing 2-0 entering the third inning, the Hillcats (9-9) put up their only crooked number of the evening, scoring two runs on only one hit. Daniel Castro walked with one out, stole second base and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Wren. Wren then stole second base to give him eight steals in the last five games, including seven off of lefties.

Lynchburg added its other run without putting the ball in play. Back-to-back walks to Josh Elander and Kevin Ahrens loaded the bases for Edison Sanchez. Potomac's (11-7) starter, Brett Mooneyham, then hit Sanchez with a pitch to tie the game, 2-2. That prompted Nationals manager Tripp Keister to pull Mooneyham in favor of right-handed reliever Brian Dupra. Lynchburg's offense did not score the rest of the evening and only logged three hits on the Potomac bullpen in 6.1 innings.

Dupra tossed the first 4.1 scoreless innings to improve his record to 3-0 with a remarkable 0.53 ERA. Dupra's six strikeouts gave him 23 Ks this season compared to only one walk. Dakota Bacus pitched the final two innings and struck out one to earn his first save of 2014.

Aside from Wren, Kevin Ahrens and Tyler Tewell posted the only other hits for Lynchburg. For Ahrens, it extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games. Elander also reached twice in the game on walks and stole his third bag of the year.

Potomac's offense only netted six hits, but four of them went for extra bases. In the first inning, Khayyan Norfork bunted his way on base and then scored on an RBI double by Oscar Tejeda. The Nationals improved to 9-0 this season when scoring first in a ballgame.

Potomac added a second run in the third inning thanks to the combination of a leadoff double by Cole Leonida and a sacrifice fly by Randolph Oduber later in the stanza.

With its two-run lead erased by the Hillcats' third trip to the plate, Potomac reclaimed the lead in the fifth after a leadoff double by Stephen Perez and an RBI groundout by Leonida. Perez also scored the final run of the night with a solo homer in the seventh. Greg Ross (1-1) struck out three and limited Potomac to only five baserunners in six innings, but he still suffered the defeat after allowing three runs on five hits. Brandon Cunniff tossed a perfect ninth inning to extend his season-long scoreless streak to 11.0 innings.

With the loss, Lynchburg falls to .500 for the first time since April 6. The Hillcats will have an off-day Tuesday before embarking on a seven-game road trip. The long stretch away from City Stadium will begin with a three-game series at Salem. Jarett Miller (0-1, 3.00) will try to stop the three-game skid for the Hillcats against lefty Corey Littrell (0-1, 2.16) in Lynchburg's first game against a Southern Division opponent this season. First pitch of Wednesday's contest is scheduled for 7:05pm. Fans can listen to the game on 97.9 The Planet beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Amtrak Virginia at 6:40pm.