Pitching Staff Dominant in Woodies Shutout Victory

KINSTON, NC - A thrilling pitchers' duel didn't feature its first run until the ninth inning in Down East's (26-26, 50-71) 1-0 victory over Carolina (22-30, 58-62). Wes Benjamin worked a career-high seven and two-thirds innings in his second consecutive seven strikeout performance.

The winning run was scored by Evan Van Hoosier on a sacrifice fly by Luis La O to right field with one out in the ninth. The Wood Ducks had other opportunities in the game by drawing eight walks, but left 11 runners on base in total.
For the second straight night, the Woodies' starter carried a no-hitter into the fifth. Benjamin one-upped Kyle Cody's start on Monday by taking his no-no into the sixth inning. His effort was snapped on a one-out double by Jose Cuas.
By night's end, Benjamin worked a career-high in innings while also avoiding a walk for the second straight start. Down East has now won nine straight games the southpaw has started.
Josh Altman was the only Wood Duck batter with multiple hits, but he dropped a key sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning that helped set up the winning sac fly. Van Hoosier's leadoff single in the ninth set up Altmann's opportunity.
Matt Lipka was walked before La O stepped in with one out and runners on the corners. He connected on the first pitch of the at-bat to right field, where Monte Harrison made a tremendous effort on the throw home. Van Hoosier slid away from the late tag and slapped his hand on the plate to seal the win.
Not to be ignored, Scott Williams relieved Benjamin in the eighth inning and struck out Cuas. He worked a scoreless ninth to claim his second win of the season. He also extends his scoreless innings streak to 21 and one-third innings.
Coupled with Buies Creek's loss to Lynchburg, Down East moves to 6.5 games back for first place in the second-half.
Game three of the series with the Mudcats comes on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Righty Jonathan Hernández (1-5, 4.04) will take on lefty Kodi Medeiros (4-9, 5.01). You can listen to every pitch of the 2017 season live on Sports/Talk 960 The Bull or streamed on the TuneIn Radio app.