Surrendered Slam Saddles Woodpeckers with Loss in Fredericksburg 

Fayetteville, NC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (9-5) never recovered Saturday night after surrendering a grand slam in the top of the first inning to the Fredericksburg Nationals (8-6), ultimately dropping game five of the series 5-2.

Brandon Pimentel hit the slam off Fayetteville starter Derek True (L, 0-1), a deep fly down the right field line that made it a 4-0 game four batters in. True would recover and pitch all the way into the fifth. The 18th round pick out of Cal Poly retired six straight after giving up the homer and struck out five across 4.1 total innings.

The Woodpeckers grabbed a run back in the top of the fifth. Nehomar Ochoa Jr. doubled off Miguel Gomez (W, 1-0) and scored on another double from Will Bush with two outs.

Phillip Glasser quickly got the run back for Fredericksburg with a solo homer off Dawill Almonte in the bottom of the fifth. Almonte, a 22-year-old righty out of the Dominican Republic, did not allow a hit across the rest of his Single-A debut and struck out three.

In the seventh, Oliver Carrillo singled and scored on an Xavier Casserilla fielder’s choice, a grounder that cut the game to 5-2.

Fayetteville couldn’t generate anything further against the FredNats bullpen, going scoreless against Merrick Baldo and Thomas Shultz (SV, 3) in the eighth and ninth innings.

The six-game road series concludes on Sunday after with a 1:35 PM scheduled first pitch. Fayetteville is projected to start RHP Raimy Rodriguez and Fredericksburg will counter with RHP Travis Sthele. The Woodpeckers radio broadcast can be heard at fayettevillewoodpeckers.com or through the MiLB App. The Woodpeckers return home on Tuesday, April 23rd for a six-game series against the Down East Wood Ducks.

Full Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/753941/final/box