Wood Ducks plate three runs in eighth inning 

Thanks to a late error, the Down East Wood Ducks defeated the Fayetteville Woodpeckers 7-5 on Tuesday night.  The Wood Ducks surrendered the lead but managed to claw back with a three-run bottom of the eighth for their second come from behind win this season.

Fayetteville (32-41) opened the scoring, in the top of the first with three walks and a hit by pitch with the bases loaded to take the 1-0 lead. 

Down East (40-33) responded with a big bottom of the second.  Keyber Rodriguez walked and advanced to third on a double by Cristian Inoa.  With one out, Thomas Saggese doubled to score Rodriguez and Inoa to flip the score, 2-1 in favor of the Woodies.  Alejandro Osuna followed with a single to score Saggese for the 3-1 lead.  Osuna stole second and with two outs, Jayce Easley singled home Osuna to put the Wood Ducks ahead 4-1.    

The Woodpeckers took the lead after scoring four unanswered runs to take a 5-4 lead in the seventh. 

The Wood Ducks regained the lead late in the bottom of the eighth.  With one out, Rodriguez walked and advanced to second on a single by Inoa.  With two outs, Saggese walked to load the bases and Osuna walked to plate the tying run, 5-5.   Randy Florentino reached second on a throwing error to score Rodriguez and Saggese to give Down East the 7-5 lead.  

Gavin Collyer took the no-decision, pitching 4 2/3 innings, while allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts.  Eudrys Mañon allowed one run with two walks and three strikeouts in two innings of work.  Mason Cole (W, 2-0) earned the win, pitching 1 1/3 innings, allowing a run on two hits with three walks.  Marc Church (S, 3) struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning to secure the win for the Woodies. 

The series continues tomorrow at with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m.  RHP John Matthews (2-3, 6.75) toes the rubber for the Wood Ducks and Fayetteville will counter with LHP Julio Robaina (3-1, 5.12). 

Fans can purchase tickets on woodducksbaseball.com, by calling the Wood Ducks Team Offices at (252) 686-5164 or in the Wood Ducks Team Offices located at Grainger Stadium (Mon-Fri – 9am - 4pm).  Make sure to follow your Down East Wood Ducks on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook so you don’t miss anything!