Woodpeckers Blanked in Pitcher’s Duel in Columbia
COLUMBIA, SC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (25-29) had no answer for Columbia Fireflies starter Hunter Patteson Thursday night at Segra Park as the Fireflies (27-25) narrowly grabbed a 1-0 win over the Woodpeckers. Fayetteville has dropped each of the first three contests of this week’s series. Patteson (W, 3-4) gave
COLUMBIA, SC – The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (25-29) had no answer for Columbia Fireflies starter Hunter Patteson Thursday night at Segra Park as the Fireflies (27-25) narrowly grabbed a 1-0 win over the Woodpeckers. Fayetteville has dropped each of the first three contests of this week’s series.
Patteson (W, 3-4) gave up three hits over his first two innings but kept the Woodpeckers from crossing the plate. The lefty then went on to retire 20 in a row to end his outing as he went eight scoreless frames, the longest outing by a Firefly since becoming an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
On the other side, Fayetteville got a strong start out of Alain Pena. The righty went a career-long six scoreless innings, allowing six hits while walking two and striking out three. Pena has not given up a run over his last 11 innings dating back to two weeks ago in Salem.
The game remained tied at zero all the way into the bottom of the eighth inning. A fly ball hit by Columbia’s Blake Mitchell was lost in the lights by Woodpeckers center fielder Cesar Hernandez and dropped for a double. Hudson Leach (L, 0-1) struck out Derlin Figueroa for the first out, but Chris Brito followed with a base hit to right to score Mitchell for the only run of the night.
Patteson came out ahead of the ninth in favor of Jarold Rosado (SV, 2). The Dominican-born righthander made quick work of Fayetteville, retiring the side in order to end the game. The Woodpeckers’ final 23 batters were set down by Fireflies pitching.
Both teams will meet again on Friday night for the fourth of six games this week. RHP Julio Marte gets the ball for Fayetteville while Columbia sends RHP Ethan Bosacker to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.