The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (40-39, 8-6) took on the Hill City Howlers (34-46, 3-11) in game five on Saturday night at City Stadium. Charlie Weber was on the mound for Fayetteville against Harrison Bodendorf of Hill City. The game was delayed for over an hour due to rain.
At the top of the first inning, Fayetteville designated hitter Kevin Alvarez hit a two-out double to right field. Waner Luciano followed up by hitting an RBI single to right field, scoring Alvarez for a 1-0 lead. Arturo Flores struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the third inning, Hill City had a runner on second base when Fayetteville starter Charlie Weber made a throwing error in a pickoff attempt. Dauri Fernandez scored, tying the game 1-1. With two outs, Weber struck out Riley Nelson to end the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Fayetteville right fielder Waner Luciano hit a solo home run to left field to give the Woodpeckers a 2-1 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season. With two outs, German Ramirez struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Fayetteville starter Charlie Weber went 3.1 innings. Allowing a hit, three walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 67 pitches, of which 38 were strikes. Leomar Rosario pitched in the bottom of the fourth inning. He allowed two walks and struck out one, throwing 21 pitches, of which 10 were strikes. Jesus Carrera pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Moving to the bottom of the seventh inning, Hill City had a runner on third base when Riley Nelson hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Jonathan Martinez, and the game was tied 2-2. Luis De La Cruz followed up by hitting a two-run home run to right field to give the Howlers a 4-2 lead. It was his sixth home run of the season. With two outs, Reiner Herrera popped out to second baseman Brandon Nigh for the final out of the inning.
Jesus Carrera went four innings, allowing five hits, three runs, three walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 76 pitches, of which 43 were strikes. At the top of the ninth inning, Josh Wakefield hit a double to right field with one out. With two outs, German Ramirez struck out, and the game was over. The Woodpeckers saw their three-game winning streak end by the final score of 4-2.
Fayetteville finished the night with six hits, committed one error, went 1 for 3 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Waner Luciano went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Jesus Carrera (0-3), and the win went to Hill City pitcher Keegan Zinn (4-4).
The Woodpeckers conclude the six-game series with a chance to win the series on Sunday at 2 pm on the MLB App. Fayetteville have yet to name a starter, while Miguel Flores (5-6, 5.77 ERA) will be on the mound for Hill City.
