The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (71-57, 39-24) took on the Hickory Crawdads (81-47, 47-17) in game four on Friday night at L.P. Frans Stadium. Jagger Beck was on the mound for Fayetteville against Moises Morales for Hickory.
The game was scoreless through four innings. Fayetteville starter Jagger Beck went one inning, allowing a hit and struck out one, throwing 21 pitches, of which 11 were strikes. Jesus Carrera pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the second inning. At the top of the fifth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on first base with one out when Juan Sierra hit an RBI double to left field, scoring German Ramirez to put the Woodpeckers up 1-0. With two outs and runners on second and third base, Ben Tryon struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Hickory shortstop Seong-Jun Kim tied the game 1-1 with a solo home run to left-center field. Carrera gave up a single to Jay McQueen with two outs before a flyout by Kaden Carpenter ended the inning.
Jesus Carrera went six innings, allowing one run and four strikeouts, throwing 76 pitches, of which 56 were strikes. Leomar Rosario pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the seventh inning. The game remained tied 1-1 and headed to extra innings. Rosario went two innings, allowing two walks and three strikeouts, throwing 40 pitches, of which 23 were strikes.
At the top of the tenth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded with one out when Owen Nowak worked a four-pitch walk, scoring Petey Solo Jr. to give the Woodpeckers a 2-1 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Ben Tryon ended the inning.
Mick Uebelhor pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the tenth inning. Jay McQueen hit an RBI single to second base. The ball was deflected by first baseman Ben Tryon, allowing Kolby Branch to score, tying the game 2-2. With two outs, Brandon Crabtree grounded into a forceout at second base to end the inning. Uebelhor went two innings, allowing a hit, a run, a walk, and three strikeouts, throwing 25 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
Tazwell Butler pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the 12th inning. Kolby Branch moved Josh Owens with a sacrifice bunt to third baseman Waner Luciano. Kaden Carpenter reached first base on a throwing error by first baseman Ben Tryon, scoring Owens that gave the Crawdads a 3-2 win. It is Fayetteville’s fourth straight loss. Butler allowed a run and one walk, throwing six pitches, of which two were strikes.
Fayetteville finished the night with five hits, committed two errors, went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Tazwell Butler (0-1), and the win went to Hickory pitcher Geury Rodriguez (6-3).
The Woodpeckers and Crawdads play game five on Saturday at 7 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Fayetteville will name a starter tomorrow, while Jacob Johnson (1-0, 2.84 ERA) will be on the mound for Hickory.
