The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (37-37, 5-4) concluded the 12-game homestand on Sunday evening at Segra Stadium against the Delmarva Shorebirds (27-48, 4-5). Aubrey Smith was on the mound for Fayetteville against Stephen Still of Delmarva.
The game was scoreless in the first three innings. At the top of the fourth inning, Delmarva left fielder Braylon Whitaker hit a solo home run to right field that put the Shorebirds up 1-0. It was his first home run of the season. Later, Delmarva center fielder D.J. Layton hit a two-run home run to left-center field, extending their lead to 3-0. It was his fifth home run of the season.
With two outs, Joshua Liranzo hit a solo home run to left-center field for a 4-0 lead. It was his third home run of the season. Smith put two more runners on base before Jose Perez hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Andrés Nolaya for a 5-0 lead. A flyout by Braylon Whitaker ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs, Fayetteville first baseman Carlos Cauro hit a solo home run to left-center field, cutting the deficit to 5-1. It was his fourth home run of the season. German Ramirez struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the fifth inning, Delmarva had runners on second and third base when Miguel Rodríguez hit a two-run RBI single to left field, scoring Stiven Martinez and D.J. Layton for a 7-1 lead. With one out, Joshua Liranzo grounded into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.
Smith went five innings, allowing nine hits, seven runs, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 76 pitches, of which 45 were strikes. Grayson Saunier pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had runners on first and second base when Xavier Neyens hit a three-run home run to right field, cutting the deficit to 7-4. It was his 12th home run of the season. With two outs, German Ramirez struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the seventh inning, Delmarva got those runs back. They had a runner on second base when Stiven Martinez hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Braylon Whitaker for an 8-4 lead. D.J. Layton followed up by hitting a soft bunt single to pitcher Grayson Saunier.
A throwing error by Saunier allowed Martinez to score for a 9-4 lead. Jaiden Lo Re followed up by hitting an RBI single to center field, scoring Layton for a 10-4 lead. Two batters later, Joshua Liranzo hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Re for an 11-4 lead.
Grayson Saunier was replaced by Ryan Mathiesen. Andrés Nolaya grounded into a 4-3 inning-ending double play. Saunier went 1.1 innings, allowing five hits, four runs, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 31 pitches, of which 17 were strikes. Mathiesen went 2.2 innings, allowing a hit, two walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 40 pitches, of which 20 were strikes.
Fayetteville would go on to lose the series finale 11-4. They take four of six from Delmarva. The Woodpeckers finished the evening with four hits, committed one error, went 1 for 3 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. Xavier Neyens went 1 for 3 with a home run, a walk, and three RBIs. The loss went to Fayetteville starter Aubrey Smith (1-5), and the win went to Delmarva starter Stephen Still (1-2).
The Woodpeckers head back to Lynchburg, Virginia, to begin a 12-game road trip starting on Tuesday against the Hill City Howlers at 6:30 pm on the MLB App.
