The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (38-38, 6-5) played game two on Wednesday night against the Hill City Howlers (33-44, 2-9) at City Stadium. Jagger Beck was on the mound for Fayetteville against Ryan Prager of Hill City.
The game was scoreless in the first two innings. At the top of the third inning, Fayetteville had runners on second and third base when Arturo Flores grounded out to third baseman Yaikel Mijares, scoring Xavier Neyens for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Carlos Cauro struck out on a foul tip, and the inning was over.
At the top of the fourth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base when Brandon Nigh grounded out to third baseman Yaikel Mijares, scoring German Ramirez for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, Anthony Huezo struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the fifth inning, Fayetteville third baseman Xavier Neyens hit a solo home run to center field for a 3-0 lead. It was his 13th home run of the season. With two outs, a pop-out by Josh Wakefield ended the inning.
Fayetteville starter Jagger Beck pitched five innings, allowing three hits, four walks, and struck out five, throwing 74 pitches, of which 46 were strikes.
Moving to the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville shortstop German Ramirez was on third base when Waner Luciano reached first base on a fielding error by third baseman Yaikel Mijares, scoring Ramirez for a 4-0 lead. With two outs, a pop-out by Kevin Alvarez ended the inning.
Ryan Verdugo pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the sixth inning. He allowed a walk and struck out one, throwing 18 pitches, of which 10 were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the seventh inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Brandon Nigh and Anthony Huezo worked four-pitch walks. Carlos Cauro and Josh Wakefield scored for a 6-0 lead. With two outs, Xavier Neyens struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Hill City had a runner on third base when Yaikel Mijares hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Reiner Herrera, and it was now 6-1. With two outs, a lineout by Gabriel Rodriguez ended the inning.
At the top of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when German Ramirez worked a four-pitch walk, scoring Arturo Flores for a 7-1 lead. It was the 12th walk of the night for Hill City. Two batters later, Brandon Nigh hit a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Carlos Cauro and Josh Wakefield for a 9-1 lead. With two outs, Anthony Huezo struck out swinging, and the inning came to a close.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Hill City had runners on second and third base when Cannon Peebles hit a two-run RBI double to left field, scoring Juneiker Caceres and Luis De La Cruz. It was now 9-3. Later, a groundout by Reiner Herrera brought home Cannon Peebles, and it was now 9-4. The inning came to an end when Yeiferth Castillo grounded out to second baseman Brandon Nigh.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Hill City had a runner on third base when Gabriel Rodriguez hit an RBI single to third baseman Xavier Neyens, scoring Yaikel Mijares, and it was now 9-5. With one out, Juneiker Caceres grounded into a game-ending 3-6 double play. The Woodpeckers defeated the Howlers 9-5 to end a three-game skid. Ryan Verdugo went four innings, allowing six hits, five runs, two walks, and struck out one, throwing 68 pitches, of which 37 were strikes.
Fayetteville finished the night with nine hits, went 3 for 19 with runners in scoring position, and left 14 men on base. Xavier Neyens went 1 for 3 with a home run, a stolen base, three walks, and one RBI, while Brandon Nigh went 2 for 4 with a walk and four RBIs. The win went to Fayetteville starter Jagger Beck (2-2), while Ryan Verdugo earned his first save of the season, and the loss went to Hill City starter Ryan Prager.
The Woodpeckers and Howlers play game three on Thursday at 6:30 pm on the MLB App. Fayetteville have yet to name a starter, while Erigaldi Perez (3-3, 4.86 ERA) will be on the mound for Hill City.
