Ballers Overpowered by Mudcats in Friday Night’s Loss

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Eight hits off the bats of the Cannon Ballers showed no evidence of baserunners or runs as Kannapolis fell for the fourth night in a row to the Carolina Mudcats 9-2 on Friday night at Atrium Health Ballpark.

RHP Drew Dalquist (L, 1-6) got the start for the Ballers on the mound. The No.5 prospect in the White Sox organization was snake-bitten by runners on base, allowing six earned runs on six hits, walking two and striking out three. RHP Marcus Evey relieved Dalquist in the fourth, cooling down the Mudcats bats in his 1.1 frames of work, allowing three hits and one run, walking two while unable to record a punchout.

Carolina wasted no time in opening the scoring, jumping out ahead 1-0 in the top of the first on a Noah Campbell RBI groundout that gave Gabe Holt the opportunity to cross the plate.

A passed ball by Mudcats catcher Alex Hall knotted the ballgame at 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Bryan Ramos hustled home from third base to touch the plate.

RHP Nick Belzer (W, 6-2) began the evening for Carolina on the mound, providing another long outing for skipper Joe Ayrault. The Iowa native struck out three over his 7.0 innings, allowing five hits and one unearned run.

Campbell tallied his second RBI of the game in the top of the third, a large offensive inning for the visitors. The former South Carolina Gamecock reached on an error by Harvin Mendoza, allowing Freddy Zamora to score. Joey Wiemer followed Campbell’s at-bat with a three-run shot to left field, scoring Ashton McGee and Campbell, expanding the Mudcats lead to 5-1.

The good times kept on going for Carolina in the fourth with Andre Nnebe scoring on a wild pitch. Felix Valerio then added an RBI single to center field to give Holt his second run of the ballgame, making it 7-1, advantage, Mudcats.

Ernesto Martinez notched an insurance run in the top of the fifth, crushing the first pitch of the a-bat over the wall in left field to pull Carolina ahead 8-1.

Hall added a late run in the top of the ninth to make it 9-1, crushing the ball 364 feet into right field, tripling on the play and scoring Campbell for the second time.

For the third straight game, the Ballers fought back late to chip away at the lead. Chase Krogman corked an RBI single to right-center field that scored Caberea Weaver, shortening the Carolina advantage to 9-2.

The Ballers will look to snap the large skid on Saturday night in the fifth of six matchups this week with the Mudcats. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. with postgame fireworks in the plans for fans to enjoy. RHP Chase Solesky (1-3, 4.29 ERA) will get the start for skipper Guillermo Quiroz, with Carolina dubbing LHP Brandon Knarr (5-1, 4.60 ERA) as the starting pitcher.

Tickets can be purchased for any remaining home games at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark.