Winston-Salem drops road trip finale

Wilmington, Del. (April 14, 2014) - Winston-Salem rallied to tie the score in the top of the eighth inning, but Wilmington responded with a pair in the bottom half of the frame to edge the Dash 3-1 on Monday night at Frawley Stadium.

As a result, the Dash (4-7) finish their first road trip with a 2-5 record, and the club only mustered two runs in this four-game series. That single-series total is the lowest for a four-game set in the Dash era (2009-present).

One of those runs knotted this contest in the eighth inning. Wilmington (5-6) reliever Aroni Nina (1-0) plunked Grant Buckner to kick off the frame, and Adam Heisler entered as a pinch runner. Heisler advanced to second on a Jacob May sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch.

With two down in the top of the eighth, Courtney Hawkins laced a single to left for his Carolina League-leading 15th RBI to deadlock the score.

However, Wilmington loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom half against newcomer Evan Crawford (0-1). Raul A. Mondesi hit a grounder up the middle, and Joey DeMichele made a diving stop at second base. His throw, though, kicked away from Martin Medina, and two runs scored to put the Blue Crew ahead for good.

Winston-Salem would bring the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth inning thanks to a Medina two-out double, but righty Mark Peterson would shut the door for his second save.

Both starters shined in no decisions on Monday night. J.B. Wendelken's lone blemish came in the fifth inning when Daniel Rockett looped a single to right, and Cam Gallagher drove him home with a double to the gap in right-center field.

In all, Wendelken held the Blue Crew to four hits in six and a third strong innings, the longest effort by a Winston-Salem starter in 2014. The Dash boast three quality starts thus far this season, and two of them belong to Wendelken.

Blue Rocks southpaw Sean Manaea limited the Dash to four hits in five shutout innings in his second professional start. The 34th overall pick in last year's MLB Draft, Manaea struck out five and only allowed one Dash runner to reach base.

After a tough road trip, the Dash head home for a seven-game homestand for the first of three against the Frederick Keys on Tuesday at 7 p.m.. Right-hander Brad Goldberg (0-1, 8.64 ERA) toes the rubber for Winston-Salem against southpaw Matt Taylor (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on wsdash.com/broadcast.

Tuesday is All-You-Can-Eat Night at BB&T Ballpark. All fans received all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers and cheeseburgers through the seventh inning, and normal ticket prices apply. For tickets as low as $7, log on to wsdash.com.