The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (45-45, 13-12) took on the Fredericksburg Nationals (58-34, 12-4) in game two on Wednesday night at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. Aubrey Smith was on the mound for Fayetteville against Travis Sthele of Fredericksburg.
Aubrey Smith pitched one scoreless inning, allowing a hit, and struck out one, throwing 19 pitches, of which 10 were strikes, to get three outs. Ryan Forcucci pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the second inning. Fredericksburg had runners on second and third base when Sir Jamison Jones hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Dashyll Tejeda to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
Two batters later, Manuel Cabrera hit an RBI single to shortstop Brandon Nigh, scoring Elian Soto for a 2-0 lead. Gavin Fien followed up by hitting an RBI single to left field, scoring Nick Peoples for a 3-0 lead.
Gavin Fien stole second base, and a throwing error by catcher Yosweld Vasquez scored Manuel Cabrera for a 4-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Coy James brought home Gavin Fien for a 5-0 lead. With two outs, a lineout by Luke Dickerson ended the inning.
Ryan Forcucci went 1.1 innings, allowing two hits, five runs, four earned runs, and four walks, throwing 41 pitches, of which 12 were strikes. Grayson Saunier pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the third inning. He went 1.2 innings, with three strikeouts, throwing 20 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
At the top of the fourth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on first base when Waner Luciano reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Manuel Cabrera. Kevin Alvarez scored, and the Woodpeckers cut the deficit to 5-1. With two outs, a flyout by Carlos Cauro ended the inning.
Ryan Verdugo pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the fifth inning. At the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had runners on second and third base when Kevin Alvarez hit an RBI single to center field, scoring D.J. Newman, and it was now 5-2.
Waner Luciano followed up by hitting a two-run RBI double to center field, scoring German Ramirez and Kevin Alvarez. It was now 5-4. A sacrifice fly by Carlos Cauro scored Luciano, and the game was tied 5-5. With two outs, a groundout by Yosweld Vasquez ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the seventh inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base with one out when Josh Wakefield grounded out to shortstop Coy James, scoring D.J. Newman to give the Woodpeckers a 6-5 lead. A groundout by German Ramirez ended the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Fredericksburg had runners on first and second base when Luke Dickerson hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Gavin Fien. The game was tied 6-6. With one out, Hunter Hines hit into a 9-2 double play.
In the bottom of the eighth inning with one out, Fredericksburg had runners on first and second base when Nick Peoples hit a three-run home run to right field, giving the Nationals a 9-6 lead. It was his seventh home run of the season. With two outs, Gavin Fien popped out to third baseman Waner Luciano, and the inning was over. Ryan Verdugo went four innings, allowing five hits, four runs, one walk, and four strikeouts, throwing 61 pitches, of which 40 were strikes.
The Woodpeckers lost to the Nationals 9-6. Fayetteville finished the night with 10 hits, committed three errors, went 2 for 4 with runners in scoring position, and left three men on base. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Ryan Verdugo (4-4), and the win went to Fredericksburg pitcher Luke Johnson (5-1).
The Woodpeckers and Nationals play game three on Thursday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Fayetteville had yet to name a starter, while Levi Huesman (4-4, 3.35 ERA) will be on the mound for Fredericksburg.
