The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (60-53, 28-20) and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (45-69, 18-32) played game two on Wednesday night at Pelicans Park. Juan Fraide was on the mound for Fayetteville against Jubrayker Salaya of Myrtle Beach.
At the top of the first inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded with two outs when Owen Nowak and Arturo Flores walked on four pitches, and Petey Soto Jr. was hit by a pitch and a wild pitch. Kevin Alvarez, Waner Luciano, and Ben Tryon scored to put the Woodpeckers ahead 3-0. German Ramirez struck out swinging for the third out.
At the top of the second inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base with one out when Kevin Alvarez hit an opposite-field two-run home run to left field for a 5-0 lead. It was his 10th home run of the season. After Waner Luciano worked a four-pitch walk, Ben Tryon struck out, and a groundout by Owen Nowak ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Kam Durnin extended Fayetteville’s lead to 6-0 with a solo home run to right field. It was his second home run of the season. With two outs, the Woodpeckers had runners on the corners when Owen Nowak popped out to third baseman Corey Nunez for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base with two outs when Kam Durnin reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Corey Nunez, scoring Petey Soto Jr. for a 7-0 lead. Logan Hughes followed up by hitting a two-run opposite-field home run to left field for a 9-0 lead. It was his first home run of the season. A lineout by Waner Luciano ended the inning.
Fayetteville starter Juan Fraide went 5.2 innings, allowing five hits and struck out seven, throwing 86 pitches, of which 59 were strikes. Jose Serrano pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs. He struck out Juan Cabada to end the inning.
Fayetteville’s offense continued to roll into the top of the eighth inning. With a runner on first base, third baseman Waner Luciano hit a two-run home run to center field for an 11-0 lead. It was his eighth home run of the season. Later, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Petey Soto Jr. worked a four-pitch walk for a 12-0 lead.
After a pitching change by Myrtle Beach, Fayetteville second baseman German Ramirez hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Owen Nowak for a 13-0 lead. Kam Durnin worked a four-pitch walk that made it 14-0, followed by Logan Hughes grounding out to third base, scoring Petey Soto Jr. for a 15-0 lead.
Kevin Alvarez tacked on another run with an RBI single to left field, scoring German Ramirez for a 16-0 lead. Waner Luciano hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Durnin for a 17-0 lead. With two outs, Owen Nowak struck out swinging. The Woodpeckers scored eight runs in that inning.
Unfortunately, the game was halted in the bottom of the eighth inning due to a medical emergency in Myrtle Beach’s dugout. As of this writing, there is no update on their condition.
At the top of the ninth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded with one out when Logan Hughes hit a two-run RBI single to left field, scoring Arturo Flores and Petey Soto Jr. for a 19-0 lead. Hughes was caught at second base. With two outs, Waner Luciano struck out swinging.
In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, Myrtle Beach ended the shutout when Caden Sorrell hit an RBI triple to right field, scoring Darlyn De Leon. A lineout by Jhoander Irigoyen ended the game. Fayetteville would go on to beat the Pelicans 19-1. Jose Serrano went 3.1 innings, allowing a hit, a run, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 61 pitches, of which 33 were strikes.
The Woodpeckers finished the night with 13 hits, committed two errors, went 7 for 20 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 men on base. Kam Durnin went 3 for 6 with a walk, a home run, a double, and two RBIs. The win went to Fayetteville starter Juan Fraide (6-1), and the loss went to Myrtle Beach starter Jubrayker Salaya (0-1).
The Woodpeckers and Pelicans play game three on Thursday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Ryan Verdugo (6-4, 4.68 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Chase Meyer (0-0, 2.70 ERA) of Myrtle Beach.
