Wood Ducks Use Complete Effort to Defeat Nationals

KINSTON, NC - Two big innings carried the Wood Ducks (3-4, 38-39) to victory on Wednesday by a 7-5 final. The entire offensive output was contained to the first and fourth innings for the Woodies as all eight of their hits were in the first half of the game.

Steven Bruce battled in his seventh start to complete a season-high seven innings and also register six strikeouts. The win snaps a four-start losing streak for the Texan as he allowed five runs on a career-high ten hits.
Potomac scored in the first, but Down East responded with their first barrage of offense in the bottom of the frame. The Woodies brought eight batters to the plate and received RBIs from Andretty Cordero, Chuck Leblanc, and Josh Altmann. 
The early stages of the game were a slugfest as the Nationals scored the next four runs via home run. Jackson Reetz and Aldrem Corredor connected on a solo and three-run blasts respectively. The P-Nats led 5-3 headed to the bottom of the fourth.
The first two batters of the inning reached on a walk (Altmann) and hit batsman (Whatley) before a Franklin Rollin double put the Woodies within one. Two batters later, Leody Taveras lined a single the other way to left to score two and give the DEWDs the lead 6-5. He would later come in on Cordero's second RBI single of the game to swell the lead to two.
With such a torrid pace to start the game, both pitching staffs found their footing for the remainder of the game. The Potomac bullpen managed to retire the last 13 batters in a row against the DEWDs and Cordero's single was the last hit of the game for the Woodies.
Bruce worked the final four innings of his start scoreless and handed the lead to the bullpen. Kaleb Fontenot worked a scoreless eighth with a strikeout and collected his fourth hold of the season. For the ninth, Jairo Beras tossed a 1-2-3 finale with two strikeouts to seal the victory and his second save.
Down East takes the advantage in the series two games to one, and will throw right-hander Walker Weickel on the mound for Throwback Thursday tomorrow night. Tickets are available for only $5 while Budweiser and Pepsi products are only $1. Furthermore, the Wood Ducks become the Kinston Indians again with throwback jerseys. Gates open at 6:00 p.m. and first pitch is set for 7:00.