Feliciano homers again as Carolina closes out a series victory with a 5-4 win versus Fayetteville

ZEBULON, N.C. - Mario Feliciano hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth, Zach Clark and Payton Henry had two-run singles in the fifth and Drew Rasmussen struck out six over three innings in his debut as the Mudcats ended their first home stand with a 5-4 win and a series victory against Fayetteville in front of an Education Day crowd of 5,893 at Five County Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The Mudcats (8-6) were out-hit in Wednesday's game, but used some timely hitting to defeat the visiting Woodpeckers (8-6) for the second straight day and to take the series two games to one. They also took advantage of Rasmussen's dominate debut and a strong finish from lefty Cody Beckman as they improved to 3-4 in the first home stand of 2019. Beckman (1-0, 2.16) pitched through the final inning and a 1/3 with one hit allowed and one walk while earning the win for the Mudcats.
The newly promoted Rasmussen struck out the side on 10 pitches in the first, struck out two more in the second and pitched around a leadoff single in the third while facing just nine batters over the first three innings. He totaled six strikeouts, allowed one hit and worked through three scoreless frames on 35 pitches (25 strikes) in what was his Carolina debut and second professional outing in the Milwaukee organization.
The game was scoreless through the fourth, but homers from Jonathan Arauz and Miguelangel Sierra in the fifth accounted for three Fayetteville runs as the Woodpeckers took a 3-0 lead in the game. Arauz's homer was a two-run blast to right and Sierra's was a solo shot to left off reliever Matt Smith who had taken over for Rasmussen in the fourth. Those home runs were also the first both players this season.
Smith allowed both homers, but ended up allowing just those three runs overall on three hits in three innings pitched. He also walked two and struck out one while reaching 53 pitches (20 strikes).
Fayetteville had a 3-0 lead in the fifth, but Carolina came back with four runs in their half of that same frame to go up 4-3 in the game. Carolina's rally included some help as they took advantage of three walks in the inning to scrape across four runs on just two hits. Clark brought in two after singling to center with the bags full and Henry came through with a clutch single to left to drive in two with two outs to give the Mudcats the lead.
The damage done in Carolina's four run fifth was split between starter Yohan Ramirez and reliever JP France of the Woodpeckers. Ramirez walked two in the fifth and left the game in that same frame after retiring just one batter. France (0-3, 8.68) followed and allowed two inherited runners to score in the fifth after allowing both hits to Clark and Henry and also walking one in the inning. France later allowed Feliciano's homer in the eighth and ended up suffering his third loss of the season. Overall, France walked two, struck out eight and allowed three runs on three hits in the series finale loss.
The Woodpeckers scored once more in the eighth with a home run from Bryan De La Cruz off reliever J.T. Hintzen to tie the game at 4-4. Hintzen (BS, 1) took over in place of Smith in the seventh and pitched through an inning and 2/3 overall, allowing one run on three hits on Wednesday. He also walked one and struck out three. 
The game was locked at 4-4 in the eighth, but that's when Feliciano connected on his second home run of the season and his second in as many games to put the Mudcats up 5-4. Feliciano went 1-for-4 with a home run and a RBI for Carolina in the series clinching win. Henry also went 1-for-4 with two, two-out RBIs and Clark went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run for Carolina.
UP NEXT: The Mudcats took two of three from Fayetteville thanks to Wednesday's series finale victory and lead the overall season series 2-1. The season series, however, will continue on Thursday night at Fayetteville when the Woodpeckers take on the Mudcats in the first ever game at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C. RHP Noah Zavolas (1-1, 2.70) will start for the Mudcats in game one of Carolina's new four game series at Fayetteville on Thursday night. The game will air live on the Mudcats Radio Network, the Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio. 
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