Royals Blank Bulldogs in Exhibition Play

Five Burlington Royals pitchers combined to toss a seven-inning one-hitter in a 5-0 against the Kernersville Bulldogs on Tuesday. The Royals struck out 15 Bulldogs hitters en route to earning the exhibition win in Burlington.

BURLINGTON, N.C.- The Burlington Royals unofficially opened the 2017 season on Tuesday night with a 5-0 exhibition win over the Kernersville Bulldogs at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
The game was highlighted by a combined one-hitter thrown by five Royals pitchers. RHP Carlos Hernandez got the start, and tossed 4.2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing one hit and striking out an impressive 11 hitters.
LHP Felix Familia needed just one pitch to get out of the top of the fifth, and RHP Kevin Lenik followed by achieving the rare feat of striking out four batters in an inning in the sixth. He worked around a strikeout passed ball to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard.
RHP Luis Alcantara got the first two outs of the seventh, and RHP Yerelmy Garcia induced a groundout to short for the game's final out.
Offensively, the Royals got on the scoreboard without a hit in the first. CF Michael Gigliotti and RF Seuly Matias each walked, and Gigliotti, who was at third after a wild pitch, scored on an RBI fielder's choice groundout by DH Reed Rohlman.
Burlington broke the game open with a three-spot in the home half of the fourth. Rohlman was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, and went to third on a double by 1B Dennicher Carrasco . LF Cal Jones singled home Rohlman, and C Sebastian Rivero followed with a single of his own to score Carrasco. Jones would score himself on an RBI groundout by 2B Jose Marquez .
The Royals' final run scored in the fifth, when Matias singled and pinch hitter Nick Hutchins doubled him to third. Matis then scored on a Jones sacrifice fly.
The Burlington Royals will officially begin the 2017 season on Thursday, June 22 against the Kingsport Mets. First pitch in the opener of the three-game series is set for 7:00 p.m. Coverage with Matt Krause on the Burlington Royals Broadcast Network begins at 6:45 p.m.
At the ballpark, it will be Thirsty Thursday. Select beers are available for just $1 at the first and third base beer stands. For tickets, call (336) 222-0223 or visit www.burlingtonroyals.com.