The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (2-10) and the Augusta GreenJackets (7-5) played game three on Thursday night from SRP Park. Javier Perez was on the mound for Fayetteville against Landon Beidelschies of Augusta.
At the top of the first inning, Fayetteville center fielder Anthony Huezo began the game by hitting a triple to center field. Next, first baseman Camilo Diaz hit a ground ball RBI single to left field. Huezo scored for a 1-0 lead. Diaz would go on to steal second base. With two outs, shortstop German Ramirez hit a line drive RBI single to center field. Diaz scored for a 2-0 lead. Left fielder Kenni Gomez was called out on strikes, and the inning was over.
Moving to the bottom of the fifth inning, Augusta had runners on first and second base when Alex Lodise hit a three-run home run at 387 feet to center field to give the GreenJackets a 3-2 lead. It was Lodise’s first home run of the season.
Javier Perez pitched five innings, allowing two hits, three runs, one walk, and six strikeouts, throwing 67 pitches, of which 47 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had runners on first and second base when catcher Yosweld Vasquez hit a soft ground ball to second base. A fielding error by shortstop Tate Southisene allowed German Ramirez to score. The game was tied 3-3. A flyout by Hector Salas ended the inning. Charlie Weber was the new pitcher for Fayetteville in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Augusta had runners on first and second base when Caden Merritt hit a two-run triple to right field. Nick Montgomery and Juan Mateo scored to give the GreenJackets a 5-3 lead. Two batters later with one out, Cooper McMurray hit an RBI single to right field. Merritt scored for a 6-3 lead. A pop-out by Jose Olsavsky and Weber struck out Tate Southisene to end the inning. Weber pitched three innings, allowing four hits, three runs, two walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 67 pitches, of which 40 were strikes.
Fayetteville’s bats went quiet at the top of the ninth inning as they lost to the GreenJackets by the final score of 6-3. It is Fayetteville’s third straight loss. The Woodpeckers finished the night with eight hits, committed two errors, went 4 of 14 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base.
Anthony Huezo went 2 for 4 with a double, a triple, a walk, and a stolen base. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Charlie Weber (1-0). The win went to Augusta pitcher Luis Arestigueta (1-0), and Drew Christo earned his first save of the season.
The Woodpeckers and GreenJackets play game four on Friday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App. Ethan Pecko (0-0, 1.80 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Ethan Bagwell (1-0, 2.08 ERA) of Augusta.
