The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (50-47, 18-14) and the Hill City Howlers (42-57, 11-22) played game three on Thursday evening at Segra Stadium. Jagger Beck was on the mound for Fayetteville against Will Hynes of Hill City.
In the bottom of the first inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded with one out when first baseman Arturo Flores worked a four-pitch walk, scoring Waner Luciano to put the Woodpeckers up 1-0. Right fielder Juan Sierra followed up by hitting a two-run RBI double to left field, scoring Kevin Alvarez and Carlos Cauro for a 3-0 lead. It was Sierra’s ninth double of the season.
Fayetteville center fielder D.J. Newman followed by hitting a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Arturo Flores and Juan Sierra for a 5-0 lead. Camilo Diaz grounded into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the second inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base with one out when German Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly to left-center field, scoring Brandon Nigh for a 6-0 lead. Carlos Cauro popped out to second baseman Johan Rodriguez for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the third inning, Hill City had a runner on second base when Alejandro Blasco hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Gabriel Rodriguez. It was now 6-1. With two outs, a groundout by Riley Nelson ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Hill City had a runner on third base with one out when Victor Izturis hit an RBI double to left field, scoring Luis De La Cruz. It was now 6-2. With two outs, a flyout by Jhorvic Abreus ended the inning.
Fayetteville starter Jagger Beck went five innings, allowing six hits, two runs, two walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 83 pitches, of which 52 were strikes. Adam Shoemaker pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded with one out when German Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring D.J. Newman for a 7-2 lead. Two batters later, Fayetteville had the bases loaded again, but Carlos Cauro struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Fayetteville had runners on the corners when Javi Torres threw a wild pitch, scoring Arturo Flores for an 8-2 lead. D.J. Newman hit an RBI double to right field, scoring Juan Sierra for a 9-2 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Kevin Alvarez ended the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base with one out when Juan Sierra hit a two-run home run to center field for an 11-2 lead. It was his eighth home run of the season. With two outs, a flyout by Brandon Nigh ended the inning.
Adam Shoemaker went four innings, allowing a hit, four walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 64 pitches, of which 34 were strikes. The Woodpeckers defeated the Howlers 11-2 for their third straight win. Fayetteville finished the night with 11 hits, went 6 for 17 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 men on base.
Juan Sierra went 3 for 5 with a home run, a double, and four RBIs, while D.J. Newman went 2 for 3 with two walks, a double, a stolen base, and three RBIs, and Kevin Alvarez went 2 for 3 with a walk, a hit by a pitch, a stolen base, and a double. The win went to Fayetteville starter Jagger Beck (4-3), while Adam Shoemaker earned his first save of the season, and the loss went to Hill City starter Will Hynes (0-1).
The Woodpeckers and Howlers play game four on Friday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Nick Potter (0-2, 2.26 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Ryan Prager (3-2, 3.51 ERA) of Hill City.
