Haase Rallies Mudcats Over Charging Dash, 8-7

Winston-Salem, N.C. - The Winston-Salem Dash stormed back from four runs down, but Eric Haase had the final say. The catcher singled home Logan Vick in the ninth to lift the Carolina Mudcats to an 8-7 win on Friday night at BB&T Ballpark. The Mudcats (28-31, 57-69) pulled ahead of the Dash (28-32, 58-71) by a half-game in the Southern Division wildcard standings.

Josh Martin (5-6) played a major factor in the late innings, pitching his team out of a jam in the eighth. He closed out the Dash in the ninth to finish with two scoreless frames. Martin walked two and whiffed a pair. Adam Lopez (0-1) suffered the loss in his first relief outing with the Dash after allowing the go-ahead single. He yielded two hits, one run, one walk and struck out three in two innings.

The Mudcats surged out of the gates with four runs off Dash starter J.B. Wendelken. Yandy Diaz snuck a two-run homer over the short wall in right field for a 2-0 lead. Torsten Boss followed with a monster shot out to right that scored Alex Monsalve for a 4-0 advantage.

Winston-Salem tallied a run in the bottom of the first on a double by Trey Michalczewski and two in the second to creep back into the game. Again, the Mudcats answered the bell with a run-scoring double by James Roberts in the fourththat brought around Luigi Rodriguez from second. Roberts pushed the Mudcats out front 7-3 with a two-run single in the sixth.

Miscues by the Carolina defense opened the door for the Dash to rally back in the late innings. Adam Engel reached on a force out in the seventh and moved to third on a double by Cleuluis Rondon off Cole Sulser. Keon Barnum worked a walk to load the bases with one out for Michalczewski.

The third baseman continued his tear with a single to deep center that scored Engel. The Dash ran into a baserunning mistake when Rondon stopped at third. However, indecision by the Mudcats on where to make a throw allowed Rondon to score and the other two runners to retreat safely. After Omar Narvaez bounced into a force at second for the second out, Jake Peter singled Barnum home to cut the deficit to one at 7-6.

The sloppy play continued in the eighth as the Dash scored the tying run thanks to two errors. C.J. Beatty opened the frame with a single off reliever Jacob Lee and moved to second on a wild pitch. Keenyn Walker reached on a bunt single and took second on a throwing error by Lee that allowed Beatty to score. Martin relieved Lee, but another misplayed bunt put runners at the corners. The right-hander dug in to retire two straight on strikeouts before inducing a fly out to end the inning.

Vick set the table in the ninth by working a leadoff walk against Lopez. Medina used a sacrifice bunt to push Vick to second and Haase punched a two-out single to left that scored Vick for the eventual game-winner. Martin used a 1-6-3 double play in the bottom of the ninth seal the victory.

The Mudcats hope to go up 2-0 in the series against the Dash on Saturday night. First pitch against Winston-Salem at BB&T Ballpark is set for 7 p.m. Carolina returns home for the final seven games of the year with four against the Lynchburg Hillcats and three with the Dash. Fans can purchase tickets or find more information by calling (919) 269-2287 or by visiting carolinamudcats.com.