Mudcats Win Second Straight on Walk-Off Walk in the Eleventh

ZEBULON, N.C. - Pat McInerney came through in the clutch with a bases loaded, walk-off walk with no-outs in the eleventh as the Mudcats defeated the Dash for the second straight game 6-5 in extras on Thursday night at Five County Stadium. The home win gave Carolina a series win over the first place Dash.

Carolina (15-11, 49-47) originally led 4-3 heading into the ninth, but closer Luke Barker fell a strike away from finishing the save as he allowed a two-out game tying single to Dash (17-10, 58-39) outfielder Luis González. The game tying hit came on a 1-2 pitch and scored Zach Remillard from second to tie the game at 4-4. Barker earlier walked Remillard with two outs and allowed him up to second on a wild pitch before giving up the game tying hit to Gonzalez.
The two teams then traded runs in the tenth while seeing the tie carry over into the eleventh. Winston-Salem's lone run in the tenth came on a sacrifice fly from JJ Muno, while Carolina's came on a leadoff single to left-center from Weston Wilson. In both instances, the inserted runner managed to score in both halves of the inning.
Diplan (5-1, 3.48) gave up the one Dash run in the tenth, but worked a spotless eleventh while putting his club in position to win the game. In all, Diplan worked through two no-hit innings and allowed just one unearned run and one walk. He also struck out two, including a strikeout of Yermin Mercedes to end the tenth with a runner at second. He also escaped the eleventh with help of a stellar 5-3 groundout executed by Wilson behind third.
Carolina's eleventh inning began with Ryan Aguilar inserted at second and continued with an intentional walk to Nick Roscetti, a fielder's choice hit into by Joangtel Segovia to load the bases and then McInerney's walk-off walk.
Winston-Salem's Danny Dopico pitched the tenth and eleventh innings and took the loss after allowing two hits and two unearned runs. Dopico (0-4, 3.70) also walked two and struck out one while suffering his first blown save of the season.
The Dash did lead first in the game as they rallied for two runs and three hits in the first against Carolina's starter Alec Bettinger. The early 2-0 Dash lead lasted only through the first though, as the Mudcats answered back with two runs off Dash starter Luis Martinez in the second to tie the game. Both Carolina runs in the second came across on wild pitches lost by Martinez, who also totaled six walks in the game for Winston-Salem.
Overall, Bettinger allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and struck out four while pitching through the third. The start was his first since landing on the disabled list on July 4. He also reached 58 pitches (34 strikes) in the game for Carolina.
Conor Harber replaced Bettinger after the third and wound up losing the 2-2 tie after allowing three straight hits and a run in the fourth. Harber gave up consecutive hits to Gavin Sheets, Yermin Mercedes and Ti'Quan Forbes to start the fourth, with Forbes' hit going for the go-ahead knock as it scored Sheets from second to give the Dash a 3-2 lead.
Harber eventually settled in nicely following the Forbes hit and went on to retire 14 straight batters between the rest of the fourth and into the eighth inning. He also finished with five strikeouts, one and one run allowed on four hits over five innings pitched.
The Mudcats then took their first lead in the fifth on back-to-back RBI doubles from Dallas Carroll and Demi Orimoloye. With the Mudcats leading 4-3, the game was then Harber's to win, but that changed in the ninth when Barker allowed the tying run in while suffering just his second blown save of the season.
The Mudcats went on to pick up Barker, however, in extras as they defeated the Dash for the second straight night. The victory also pulled them within 1.5 game of first behind the Dash, and just 1.0 game back of second behind Buies Creek in the second half standings.
The series will conclude on Friday night with the first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Five County Stadium. Friday's game will be followed by post-game fireworks presented by House Autry for Family Fireworks Friday.
The game will air on the Mudcats Radio Network, the Big Dawg 98.5 FM and via TuneIn Radio at carolinamudcats.com. It will also be available via live streaming video at MiLB.tv. Tickets are available by visiting the Five County Stadium front office, by calling (919) 269-CATS (2287) and by visiting www.carolinamudcats.com/tickets.
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