The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (25-31) and the Columbia Fireflies (26-30) played game five on Saturday night from Segra Stadium. Jesus Carrera was on the mound for Fayetteville against Michael Lombardi of Columbia.
The game was scoreless in the first two and a half innings. In the bottom of the third inning, Fayetteville second baseman Camilo Diaz hit a solo home run to right-center field to give the Woodpeckers a 1-0 lead. It was his fifth home run of the season.
Two batters later with one out, Anthony Huezo hit a double to left field. A wild pitch by Lombardi moved Huezo to third base, followed by Xavier Neyens working a four-pitch walk. Kevin Alvarez grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
At the top of the fourth inning, Columbia had a runner on third base when Roni Cabrera hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Hyungchan Um, and the game was tied 1-1 with two outs. A flyout by Henry Ramos ended the inning. Jesus Carrera pitched five innings, allowing four hits, one run, one walk, and four strikeouts, throwing 82 pitches, of which 58 were strikes.
Moving to the bottom of the fifth inning, Fayetteville had runners on second and third base with one out when Carlos Cauro hit a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Hector Salas and Camilo Diaz for a 3-0 lead. Cauro tried to reach second base but was called out. A groundout by Xavier Neyens ended the inning.
Jose Varela pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the sixth inning. Columbia had runners on second and third base when Roni Cabrera hit an RBI single to right field, scoring J.C. Vanek, and the Fireflies trailed the Woodpeckers 3-2. Later, Henry Ramos hit a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Connor Rasmussen and Roni Cabrera to give the Fireflies a 4-3 lead. With two outs, Varela struck out Josh Hammond to retire the side.
At the top of the seventh inning, Columbia had the bases loaded with nobody out. Jose Varela walked Hyungchan Um to force in a run, and it was now 5-3. A lineout by J.C. Vanek scored Jhosmmel Zue for a 6-3 lead. Connor Rasmussen lined out to shortstop Hector Salas, who made the catch and stepped on second base to complete an inning-ending double play.
At the top of the eighth inning with outs, Fayetteville replaced Jose Varela with Brandon Cassedy. Varela went 2.2 innings, allowing five hits, five runs, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 54 pitches, of which 33 were strikes. Cassedy struck out Josh Hammond for the final out of the inning. Cassedy went 1.1 innings with two strikeouts, throwing 10 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Fayetteville designated hitter Waner Luciano hit a single to shortstop with one out. With two outs, a flyout by Hector Salas ended the game. The Woodpeckers lost to the Fireflies 6-3.
Fayetteville finished the night with six hits, committed three errors, went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. Camilo Diaz went 1 for 2 with a home run, a walk, and two RBIs. The loss went to Fayetteville starter Jesus Carrera (0-2), and the win went to Columbia starter Michael Lombardi (3-1).
The Woodpeckers will look to split the series on Sunday against the Fireflies at 5:05 pm on the MLB App. Aubrey Smith (1-3, 6.00 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Kendry Chourio (2-0, 1.46 ERA) of Columbia.
