FredNats split doubleheader with Carolina, magic number down to one

FREDERICKSBURG, VA - The Fredericksburg Nationals (33-28, 63-63) split their doubleheader with the Carolina Mudcats (31-29, 67-57) on Thursday at Virginia Credit Union Stadium and are now one win away from punching their ticket to the 2025 Carolina League Playoffs.

The Mudcats mostly dominated game one, scoring five runs on nine hits in the first three innings against Luke Johnson and winning 5-1. Eric Bitonti hit his league-leading 19th home run in the first inning and leads the league with 77 RBI too. The FredNats waited to score until the seventh inning and only mustered the one run. Johnson (1-3) got the loss, as Joshua Quezada (1-1) got the win for Carolina.

Game two was much more fruitful for the FredNats. Playing as the road team in their own ballpark, the Freddies scored first in the top of the first inning, as Ethan Petry smoked a two-out, two-RBI single in a 2-0 count. Against the 18-year-old lefty, Enderson Mercado, the FredNats had a 2-0 lead.

After Carolina tied the game 2-2 in the first inning, the FredNats got more muscle from Petry, who hammered a two-run homer in a 3-0 count off of Mercado in the fourth inning that gave them a 4-2 lead. The home run soared into the left-center field home bullpen and was Petry’s second career big fly.

Up 5-3 going into the seventh inning, the home run party continued. Jorgelys Mota demolished a 424-foot home run on top of Hammer Hank’s Eagles Nest Bard in deep left field that extended the lead to 7-3. When Merrick Baldo closed the game out, the FredNats dropped their magic numbers to one against both Carolina and Fayetteville. They now need just one more win in the final three games of the regular season to be playoff-bound.

With the postseason potentially on the line, the FredNats hand the ball to Bryan Polanco, their Opening Day starter, in game five of the week and a 7:05 start.