Woodpeckers Take Five of Six at Home From Hill City

Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (52-48, 20-15 2nd Half) closed down a winning week at home taking five of six against the Hill City Howlers (43-59, 12-24 2nd Half) with a 5-3 victory on Sunday evening at Segra Stadium. The Woodpeckers built up a three-run lead early and carried it the rest of the way while the duo of Charlie Weber and Aubrey Smith went the distance on the mound.

Fayetteville's first two runs scored without the aid of a hit in the bottom of the second inning against Erigaldi Perez (L, 1-3). A double-play ball with the bases loaded scored Luis De Leon from third, then a throwing error from the catcher into center field allowed Carlos Cauro to cross for the 2-0 advantage.

Juan Sierra made it 3-zip with a sacrifice-fly in the bottom of the third. It marked his 12th RBI of the series and closed a big week at the plate where he went 8-for-21 with three home runs and a double.

Waner Luciano connected for the game-defining swing an inning later in the bottom of the fourth, launching a pitch deep over the left field berm and all the way to the kid’s zone for a 4-2 advantage.

Charlie Weber (W, 5-1) worked the first five innings and used the defense behind him effectively. He threw 47 of his 73 pitches for strikes, struck out two and allowed a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Aubrey Smith (SV, 2) took over in the sixth and carried the lead the remainder of the way, going 4.0 innings and striking out two.

The Woodpeckers now head to Salem, Virginia for an important north division battle with the Salem RidgeYaks who are 2.5 games back of Fayetteville in the division standings. First pitch on Tuesday night is scheduled for 6:35 PM with starting pitchers TBA.

Full Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/827237/final/wrap