The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (58-53, 26-20) concluded the six-game homestand against the Fredericksburg Nationals (69-44, 23-24) on Sunday evening at Segra Stadium. Jank Pichardo was on the mound for Fayetteville against Landon Harmon of Fredericksburg.
In the bottom of the first inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base with one out when Ben Tryon hit an RBI double that was deflected by first baseman Juan Cruz and into right field. Waner Luciano scored to put the Woodpeckers up 1-0. With two outs, Aaron Piasecki struck out swinging.
At the top of the second inning with two outs, Fredericksburg second baseman Rafael Ramirez Jr. tied the game 1-1 with a solo home run to right field. Pichardo struck out Dashyll Tejeda to end the inning. At the top of the third inning, Fredericksburg had a runner on first base with one out when Cristhian Vaquero hit a two-run home run to right field, giving the Nationals a 3-1 lead. It was his third home run of the season. Back-to-back flyouts from Gavin Fien and Juan Cruz ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Fredericksburg continued to pile on the runs. They had a runner on first base with one out when Rafael Ramirez Jr. hit a two-run home run to right-center field for a 5-1 lead. It was his sixth home run of the season. Three batters later, Fredericksburg had runners on the corners when Coy James hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Dashyll Tejeda for a 6-1 lead. Jordan Williams was caught stealing second base, and the inning was over.
Jank Pichardo went four innings, allowing six hits, six runs, one walk, and four strikeouts, throwing 75 pitches, of which 47 were strikes. John Carver pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the fifth inning. Carver loaded the bases when Rafael Ramirez Jr. hit a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Cristhian Vaquero and Juan Cruz for an 8-1 lead. Carver was replaced by Charlie Weber. Dashyll Tejeda popped out to third baseman Waner Luciano for the final out of the inning. Carver allowed a hit, two runs, three walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 34 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Fredericksburg had a runner on second base with one out when Cristhian Vaquero hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Jordan Williams for a 9-1 lead. With two outs, Weber struck out Juan Cruz to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had runners on the corners with one out when Jadyn Fielder hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Carlos Cauro, and it was now 9-2. Arturo Flores struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the eighth inning with one out, Fredericksburg right fielder Jordan Williams hit a solo home run to right field for a 10-2 lead. It was his ninth home run of the season. With two outs, Weber struck out Cristhian Vaquero to end the inning.
Charlie Weber went 3.1 innings, allowing three hits, two runs, and six strikeouts, throwing 54 pitches, of which 40 were strikes. Brady Thomas pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the ninth inning. Thomas loaded the bases when Rafael Ramirez Jr. reached first base on a fielding error by right fielder Juan Sierra, scoring Gavin Fien for an 11-2 lead. Thomas loaded the bases with two outs before he was replaced by Leomar Rosario. Rosario struck out Jordan Williams to end the inning.
Brady Thomas allowed a hit, a run, and three walks, throwing 30 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, and Rosario struck out one, throwing three pitches, of which three were strikes.
The Woodpeckers would see their five-game winning streak come to an end as they got clobbered by the Nationals 11-2. The Woodpeckers and Nationals split the season series 9-9. Fayetteville finished the night with seven hits, committed one error, went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. The loss went to Fayetteville starter Jank Pichardo (0-1), and the win went to Fredericksburg pitcher Leodarlyn Colon (1-0).
The Woodpeckers head to Pelicans Ballpark to start a six-game series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Tuesday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live.
