Woodpeckers Come Up Short Despite Early Rally
Charleston, SC - After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (9-16) fought to pull even, but the Charleston RiverDogs’ (16-9) offense was too much for Fayetteville Friday night. The RiverDogs took a 3-1 series lead thanks to an 8-4 victory at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark.
Charleston, SC - After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (9-16) fought to pull even, but the Charleston RiverDogs’ (16-9) offense was too much for Fayetteville Friday night. The RiverDogs took a 3-1 series lead thanks to an 8-4 victory at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark.
Woodpeckers starter Miguel Ullola ran into trouble in the first, walking four batters and allowing Carson Williams to score from second on a wild pitch to give Charleston a 1-0 lead. Zach Matthews (L, 0-2) came in to relieve Ullola with one out before an error by first baseman Joey Loperfido brought home two more RiverDogs to grow the lead to three.
Fayetteville didn’t wait long to erase the deficit. Loperfido made up for his mistake in the field when he ripped a ball up the middle to score Quincy Hamilton and get the Woodpeckers on the board. Freddy Guilamo later grounded into a double play, but Cody Orr came home on the play to bring the score to 3-2. In the top of the fourth, Hamilton would sprint home on a wild pitch by Victor Muñoz (W, 3-1) to even the score.
Charleston got the big swing they were looking for in the bottom half of the fourth. Mason Auer sent a pitch from Matthews over the center field wall for a two-run home run, the first long ball of the series by a RiverDogs batter and the first of 2022 for Auer. The Charleston center fielder came through once again in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run triple off of Ryan Gusto to extend the RiverDogs’ lead to 7-3. Bobby Seymour added another for Charleston later in the inning on an RBI single.
It was a quiet final five innings offensively for Fayetteville up until the top of the ninth with two outs, when Yeuris Ramirez launched a 3-1 fastball into the trees for a solo home run. For Ramirez, it was his second home run of the season, both of which have come in his last four games played.
The Woodpeckers look to get back into the win column in the fifth game of the six-game set Saturday night with RHP Edinson Batista on the mound. The RiverDogs look to make it three in a row as they send out RHP Antonio Jimenez. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 ET.