Friday Game: Wood Ducks Win Mistake-laden Ballgame Against Woodpeckers
Down East and Fayetteville combine for 25 runs and nine errors
In a game that saw 25 runs, 16 hits, and nine errors, the Down East Wood Ducks came away with a 15-10 win over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers Friday night. The Wood Ducks didn’t record a hit until the third inning, but had a 5-3 lead strictly on walks, wild pitches, and defensive errors.
Down East (43-33) plated the first runs of the game in the bottom of the first against Fayetteville RHP Fabricio Reina. Jayce Easley led off with a walk and advanced to second on a walk by Luisangel Acuña. With Dustin Harris batting, Fayetteville catcher Carlos Hurtado overthrew the first baseman, which allowed both runners to score, for the 2-0 lead.
Fayetteville (32-44) responded with two runs in the top of the second and a run in the top of the third to take a 3-2 lead.
The Wood Ducks broke the game open in the bottom of the third, sending 12 batters to the plate. With two outs, Dustin Harris was hit by a pitch, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Cristian Inoa worked a walk to put runners at the corners. A wild pitch allowed Harris to score the tying run and Inoa advanced to second. Yenci Peña followed with a walk and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Inoa scored for the 4-3 lead and Peña advanced to third. Jose Acosta walked, stole second, and on a wild pitch went to third as Peña scored to make the score 5-3. Alejandro Osuna walked in the next at-bat and after a pitching change, Randy Florentino tallied the first hit of the game for Down East, a two-run single to increase the lead to 7-3. Keithron Moss and Easley walked to load the bases and Thomas Saggese, pinch hitting for Acuña, drew a bases loaded walk to make the score 8-3.
Down East added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth with two runs. Inoa led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Peña followed with a double to score Inoa, for his first hit and RBI with the Wood Ducks, for the 9-3 lead. Peña advanced to third on a fielding error during a pickoff attempt and Acosta was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. Acosta stole second and Peña scored on a ground out by Florentino to give the Woodies a 10-3 lead.
The Woodpeckers bounced back in the top of the fifth with a four-run inning to cut into the Woodies lead and make it a 10-7 game.
The Wood Ducks added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Harris tripled and scored on a single by Inoa for the 11-7 lead. Peña followed with his second double of the night to put runners at second and third. On the eighth wild pitch of the night for Fayetteville, Inoa scored to increase the lead to 12-7. With the infield playing in, Acosta hit a bloop single to plate Inoa for the 13-7 lead. After his third stolen base of the night, Acosta advanced to third on the ninth wild pitch of the game. After a walk to Osuna, he stole second and Acosta stole home, tying a Wood Ducks single-game record with his fourth stolen base as the Woodies took a 14-7 lead.
Down East added one more insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Osuna doubled and advanced to third on an infield single by Florentino. With runners at the corners, Osuna scored from third on the 10th wild pitch of the game to give the Woodies a 15-7 lead.
Fayetteville added three more runs in the top of the eighth and that is where the scoring ceased. Down East came away the winners, 15-10.
Mason Englert took the no-decision, pitching four innings, while allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Eris Filpo (W, 2-2) earned the win, pitching 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) with one walk and three strikeouts. Connor Sechler pitched the final 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
The series continues tomorrow with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. RHP Nick Krauth (3-4, 4.34) gets the ball for the Wood Ducks and Fayetteville will turn to RHP Alex Santos (1-2, 3.86).
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!
