Quiet Offensive Night Costs Fayetteville Series Opener vs. Kannapolis

Fayetteville, NC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (12-15) broke up a shutout bid in the eighth inning, but couldn’t mount a full comeback in a 5-1 loss to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (14-12) in the series opener Tuesday night at Segra Stadim.

Kannapolis led for the majority of the game after scoring an unearned run on Jose Nodal (L, 0-3) in the top of the second inning. Marshall Hunt kept the game at 1-0, pitching a scoreless third, and setting down the Kannapolis side in order in the fourth.

Nic Swanson took over in the fifth and surrendered a solo home run to Tim Elko. The homer was Elko’s league-leading eighth of the season and jumped the Ballers lead to 2-zip. Swanson departed the game after pitching a scoreless sixth.

On the other side, Kannapolis starter Tyler Schweitzer (W, 3-0) knifed through the Fayetteville lineup, tossing six scoreless innings while allowing just one hit on a Ricardo Balogh single in the second inning.

In the seventh, Bryan Perez gave up an RBI single to Bryce Willits, but rebounded by retiring six hitters in order to close his day. Perez struck out a season-high three batters and handed the ball to Manual Urias in the ninth.

Jackson Loftin’s leadoff single in the eighth inning against Frander Veras served as the first step towards ending the shutout bid. Once on base, Loftin quickly stole second, then broke for third with Rolando Espinosa in the box. The throw down from Luis Pineda sailed into left field, bringing Loftin home and cutting the contest to 3-1.

Kannapolis padded their lead before the night concluded with ninth inning RBI singles from Brooks Baldwin and Luis Pineda.

The six-game series continues on Wednesday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM. The Woodpeckers are projected to start LHP Trey Dombroski (1-1, 3.43 ERA) and Kannapolis will counter with a fellow left-hander in Shane Murphy (0-1, 1.80 ERA).

FULL BOX SCORE: https://www.milb.com/gameday/728007/final/box