FredNats come back for second-straight win over Shorebirds

FREDERICKSBURG, VA - The Fredericksburg Nationals (23-30) used a three-run sixth inning to storm back and beat the Delmarva Shorebirds (21-33), finishing their second consecutive win 5-4 on Thursday night at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

After a 3-1 win Wednesday, the FredNats picked up right where they left off in the first inning. They tallied two runs off of Chase Allsup, Delmarva’s starter, with a pair of hits. Cristhian Vaquero slapped a single, Jorgelys Mota smoked a triple and Nate Rombach lofted a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 FredNats early.

That gave an early edge to Angel Roman on the hill, who ran with it through the first four frames. He scattered baserunners in every inning and carried the 2-0 lead into the fifth. That’s where he ran into trouble, though. With two outs, the Shorebirds saw five straight hitters reach, including four total hits against Roman. Four runs came around to score as the FredNat lefty struggled to find the final out. When the inning ended, the FredNats trailed 4-2.

In the sixth, the FredNat bats rushed to their pitcher’s defense. The bottom three in the order – Nate Ochoa, Randal Diaz and Yoander Rivero – all reached, as Rivero tagged a two-RBI base hit into left field to tie the game. Then, two batters later, Luke Dickerson muscled a base knock into right field to give the FredNats a 5-4 lead.

The bullpen locked things down from there, with Merritt Beeker pitching three innings and Robert Cranz pitching a scoreless ninth for the second straight night. The two relievers combined for five strikeouts in four innings without allowing a hit.

Beeker (1-2) got his first career win, with Simon Leander (2-2) getting the loss and Robert Cranz tying the Carolina League lead with his fourth save of the year. The FredNats now hold a 2-1 series lead and will send Davian Garcia (2-2, 3.77) to the mound in a 7:05 start on Friday.