Cruz Totals 8 Ks; Ferrer Hits Grand Slam in 12-6 Victory

Carolina 12 @ Fayetteville 6

May 15, 2022 | Venue : SEGRA Stadium | First pitch : 2:07 PM | Att : 3,811 | T : 3:15

CAR: 0 5 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 12 8 1

FAY: 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 6 7 0

WP: Junior Montero (2 - 0) LP: Deylen Miley (2 - 2)

FAYETTEVILLE – Stiven Cruz struck out eight over three scoreless innings in his season debut, Alberis Ferrer hit a grand slam in the fifth, and Jackson Chourio went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI as the Carolina Mudcats defeated the Fayetteville Woodpeckers 12-6 in the finale of a six-game series on Sunday afternoon at SEGRA Stadium.

The Mudcats (17-16) scored five times in the second while giving Cruz plenty of support in what was his first appearance of the 2022 season. That second inning rally saw Carolina score three times on two bases loaded walks, and a wild pitch before Chourio finished the rally with a two-run single.

Quite the debut for Stiven Cruz...
3.0 IP
1 H
0 R
1 BB
8 SO
60 Pitches pic.twitter.com/kaBQ2lFKNc

— Carolina Mudcats (@CarolinaMudcats) May 15, 2022

Cruz took all of that early support and cruised his way through three scoreless frames while striking out eight of the 11 batters he faced. He struck out the side in the first, walked one and struck out three in the second, and struck out two more in the third. His only hit allowed came on a two-out single in that same third inning.

With Cruz setting the tone, Carolina pitchers would go on to total 20 strikeouts in Sunday’s series finale. Cruz started things with eight strikeouts, Pablo Garabitos followed with two, Trevor Tietz added one, Junior Montero struck out two, Miguel Segura had one and both Jakob Brustoski and Christian Tripp struck out three each over the final two innings. Those 20 strikeouts were the most for the Mudcats in a nine-inning game in recorded team history. The recorded franchise record for strikeouts in a game is 23 and was set during a 15-inning game on June 27, 2017 at Buies Creek.

Fayetteville (12-21) trailed 5-0 before getting a run against Garabitos in the fourth. That lone run cut the Carolina lead to 5-1, but Ferrer answered with a grand slam in the fifth while giving the Mudcats a 9-1 lead. Fayetteville, however, also rallied for two more runs against Garabitos, and one against Tietz in the fifth to cut the lead to 9-4. Carolina then turned to Montero (2-0) for the sixth and he was able to hold the Woodpeckers scoreless while keeping the Carolina lead at 9-4.

The Mudcats then sealed the series finale victory with three more runs in the ninth. Carolina loaded the bases in the ninth and went on to score three straight runs on walks by Jesus Chirinos and Zack Raabe, as well as a hit-by-pitch by Ferrer.

Carolina batters combined to walk a season high 13 times in Sunday’s game.

The victory was Carolina’s third in the series, thus giving them a 3-3 split in the six-game set.

HOME RUNS:

Carolina: Ferrer (3, 5th inning off Santos, 3 on, 2 out).

TOP PERFORMERS - BATTERS:

Ferrer, 3B (Carolina): 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI

Chourio, CF (Carolina): 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI

Garcia, E, SS (Carolina): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Chirinos, 1B (Carolina): 1-for-2, 2

Cerny, CF (Fayetteville): 1-for-3, 3 R, 1 3B

Loperfido, J, LF-2B (Fayetteville): 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Mascai, 1B-LF (Fayetteville): 2-for-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI

TOP PERFORMERS - PITCHERS:

Cruz (Carolina): 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Montero (W, 2-0) (Carolina): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

Brustoski (H, 1) (Carolina): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

Tripp (Carolina): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

Garcia, F (Fayetteville): 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Reina (Fayetteville): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO

SCORING:

Mudcats 2nd (Mudcats 5, Woodpeckers 0) -- Hedbert Perez walks. Hedbert Perez caught stealing 2nd base, Deylen Miley to Jaxon Hallmark. Jeferson Quero singles to right field. Jesus Chirinos walks, Jeferson Quero to 2nd. Zack Raabe walks, Jeferson Quero to 3rd; Jesus Chirinos to 2nd. Alberis Ferrer walks, Jeferson Quero scores; Jesus Chirinos to 3rd; Zack Raabe to 2nd. Arbert Cipion flies out to Kenedy Corona. Eduardo Garcia walks, Jesus Chirinos scores; Zack Raabe to 3rd; Alberis Ferrer to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Freylin Garcia replaces Deylen Miley. Wild pitch by Freylin Garcia, Zack Raabe scores; Alberis Ferrer to 3rd; Eduardo Garcia to 2nd. Jackson Chourio singles to left field, Alberis Ferrer scores; Eduardo Garcia scores. Hendry Mendez flies out to Kenedy Corona.

(5 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Woodpeckers 4th (Mudcats 5, Woodpeckers 1) -- Pitcher Change: Pablo Garabitos replaces Stiven Cruz. Logan Cerny walks. Joey Loperfido singles to right field, Logan Cerny to 2nd. Victor Mascai strikes out swinging, Logan Cerny to 3rd; Joey Loperfido to 2nd;wild pitch by Pablo Garabitos. Tyler Whitaker grounds out, Eduardo Garcia to Jesus Chirinos, Logan Cerny scores; Joey Loperfido to 3rd. Yeuris Ramirez strikes out swinging.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Mudcats 5th (Mudcats 9, Woodpeckers 1) -- Pitcher Change: Alex Santos II replaces Freylin Garcia. Hendry Mendez pops out to Yeuris Ramirez in foul territory. Hedbert Perez walks. Jeferson Quero singles to shallow center field, Hedbert Perez to 2nd. Jesus Chirinos singles to left field, Hedbert Perez to 3rd; Jeferson Quero to 2nd. Zack Raabe flies out to Kenedy Corona. Alberis Ferrer hits a grand slam to left field on a 1-0 pitch, Hedbert Perez scores; Jeferson Quero scores; Jesus Chirinos scores. Arbert Cipion flies out to Logan Cerny.

(4 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Woodpeckers 5th (Mudcats 9, Woodpeckers 4) -- Kenedy Corona grounds out, Alberis Ferrer to Jesus Chirinos. Freddy Guilamo flies out to Arbert Cipion. Quincy Hamilton hit by pitch. Jaxon Hallmark doubles to left field, Quincy Hamilton scores. Pitcher Change: Trevor Tietz replaces Pablo Garabitos. Logan Cerny hit by pitch. Joey Loperfido walks, Jaxon Hallmark to 3rd; Logan Cerny to 2nd. Victor Mascai doubles to right-center field, Jaxon Hallmark scores; Logan Cerny scores; Joey Loperfido to 3rd. Tyler Whitaker strikes out swinging.

(3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB)

Woodpeckers 7th (Mudcats 9, Woodpeckers 6) -- Pitcher Change: Miguel Segura replaces Junior Montero. Logan Cerny triples to right-center field. Joey Loperfido doubles to left field, Logan Cerny scores. Victor Mascai flies out to Jackson Chourio. Tyler Whitaker strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by Miguel Segura, Joey Loperfido to 3rd. Yeuris Ramirez walks. Kenedy Corona reaches on fielding error by Eduardo Garcia, Joey Loperfido scores; Yeuris Ramirez to 2nd. Defensive Substitution: Jheremy Vargas replaces shortstop Eduardo Garcia, batting 2nd, playing shortstop. Freddy Guilamo grounds into a force out, fielded by Zack Raabe, Kenedy Corona out at 2nd.

(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors, 2 LOB)

Mudcats 9th (Mudcats 12, Woodpeckers 6) -- Pitcher Change: Jayson Schroeder replaces Alex Santos II. Jackson Chourio doubles to left field. Hendry Mendez walks. Wild pitch by Jayson Schroeder, Jackson Chourio to 3rd; Hendry Mendez to 2nd. Hedbert Perez grounds out, Joey Loperfido to Miguel Palma, Jackson Chourio scores; Hendry Mendez to 3rd. Jeferson Quero walks. Jeferson Quero steals 2nd base. Jesus Chirinos walks. Zack Raabe walks, Hendry Mendez scores; Jeferson Quero to 3rd; Jesus Chirinos to 2nd. Alberis Ferrer hit by pitch, Jeferson Quero scores; Jesus Chirinos to 3rd; Zack Raabe to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Fabricio Reina replaces Jayson Schroeder. Arbert Cipion grounds into a force out, Yeuris Ramirez to Freddy Guilamo, Jesus Chirinos out at home, Zack Raabe to 3rd; Alberis Ferrer to 2nd. Jheremy Vargas flies out to Logan Cerny.

(3 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 3 LOB)