The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (53-52, 21-19) played game five against the Salem RidgeYaks (47-59, 22-19) on Saturday night at Carilion Clinic Field. Jank Pichardo was on the mound for Fayetteville against Leighton Finley of Salem.
At the top of the second inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base with two outs when Leighton Finley threw a wild pitch, scoring Josh Wakefield as the Woodpeckers took a 1-0 lead. Arturo Flores struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the second inning, Salem had a runner on third base with one out when Andruw Musett hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Louis Andujar that tied the game 1-1. Later, Salem had the bases loaded when Pichardo was called for a balk, scoring Andruw Musett to give the RidgeYaks a 2-1 lead. Pichardo struck out Starlyn Nunez to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Salem had runners on first and second base when Louis Andujar hit an RBI double to left field, scoring Franklin Primera for a 3-1 lead. Andrews Opata followed up by hitting a two-run RBI single to left field, scoring Adonys Guzman and Louis Andujar for a 5-1 lead. With two outs, a lineout by Anderson Fermin ended the inning.
Jank Pichardo went three innings, allowing six hits, five runs, three walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 67 pitches, of which 39 were strikes. Jesus Carrera was the new pitcher for Fayetteville in the bottom of the fourth inning. Salem had runners on first and second base when Henry Godbout stole third base, and Starlyn Nunez stole second base. A throwing error by catcher Arturo Flores scored Godbout for a 6-1 lead. With two outs, Louis Andujar popped out to shortstop German Ramirez for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base with one out when German Ramirez hit an RBI single to shortstop Henry Godbout, scoring Jadyn Fielder, and it was now 6-2. With two outs, a flyout by Waner Luciano ended the inning.
At the top of the seventh inning, Fayetteville had a chance to get back into the game with the bases loaded and two outs, but a flyout by Kevin Alvarez ended the inning. The Woodpeckers went on to lose the game 6-2 for their second straight loss.
Fayetteville finished the night with nine hits, committed one error, went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. The loss went to Fayetteville starter Jank Pichardo (0-1), and the win went to Salem starter Leighton Finley (6-4).
The Woodpeckers concluded the six-game series against the RidgeYaks on Sunday at 4:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Fayetteville has yet to name a starter, while Williams Montero (1-3, 5.79 ERA) will be on the mound for Salem.
