The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (65-53, 33-20) returned to Segra Stadium on Tuesday night to begin a seven-game homestand against the Salem RidgeYaks (52-67, 27-27). Aubrey Smith was on the mound for Fayetteville against Cole Tolbert of Salem.
At the top of the first inning, Salem right fielder Josue Brito put the RidgeYaks up 2-0 with a two-run home run to left field. It was his first home run of the season. With two outs, a groundout by Louis Andujar ended the inning. Smith would pitch five innings, allowing three hits, two runs, three walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 78 pitches, of which 43 were strikes.
Moving to the bottom of the fifth inning, Fayetteville catcher Arturo Flores hit a solo home run to left field, cutting Salem’s lead to 2-1. It was his 17th home run of the season. With two outs, Kevin Alvarez was called out on strikes, and the inning was over. Brandon Cassedy pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base with one out when Aaron Piasecki tied the game 2-2 with an RBI double to center field, scoring Owen Nowak. The Woodpeckers had the bases loaded with two outs, but Kam Durnin grounded into a forceout at second base for the third out.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Fayetteville first baseman Logan Hughes hit a double to left field. With one out, left fielder Owen Nowak hit an RBI double to right field, scoring Hughes to give the Woodpeckers a 3-2 lead. It was his fourth double of the season. With two outs, Aaron Piasecki popped out to shortstop Avinson Pinto to end the inning.
Brandon Cassedy pitched three shutout innings, allowing a hit, one walk, and three strikeouts, throwing 33 pitches, of which 24 were strikes. Mick Uebelhor pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the ninth inning. Uebelhor allowed a hit and three strikeouts, throwing 20 pitches, of which 11 were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The Woodpeckers held on to beat the RidgeYaks 3-2 for their seventh win in a row, which is a franchise record.
Fayetteville finished the night with eight hits, went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Brandon Cassedy (3-0), while Mick Uebelhor earned his first save of the season, and the loss went to Salem pitcher Yermain Ruiz (3-4).
The Woodpeckers and RidgeYaks play a doubleheader on Wednesday starting at 4:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Juan Fraide (8-1, 2.79 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville in game one, and Jose Serrano (4-3, 7.25 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville in game two. Salem will name their starters later.
