In front of the largest crowd of the season at Segra Stadium, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (58-72, 28-36 second half) erased a pair of one-run deficits before grabbing the winning run in the eighth inning to defeat the Charleston RiverDogs (66-64, 39-23 second half) 5-4 on Friday night.
Cam Fisher delivered his second big game of the series at the plate, driving home the bulk of the runs on a three-run home run.
Fisher’s deep drive arrived in the bottom of the fourth with Fayetteville trailing 1-0. Ricardo Balogh and Jackson Loftin started the inning with consecutive singles, reaching base against Gerlin Rosario. After Juan Santander and Pascanel Ferreras recorded outs, Fisher slugged a Rosario pitch over the left-center field wall for the instant 3-1 lead.
Charleston quickly countered with three runs of its own in the top of the fifth against debuting 19-year-old reliever Sandy Mejia. Julio Meza drew a bases-loaded walk and Christopher Barete swung at a third-strike pitch that bounced away from the catcher and allowed two more runs to score for the 4-3 Charleston advantage.
Brice Matthews tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, circling the bases on a chaotic sequence. Matthew reached on a walk from Neraldo Catalina and advanced to second base moments later on a wild pitch. A throw to second base by catcher Raudelis Martinez caught the middle infield off guard and rolled into center field, sending Matthews to third. Matthews then took advantage of a casual return throw to the infield and grabbed home all in one play.
Matt Wyatt (L, 2-8) took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth and walked Jackson Loftin to start the frame. Loftin stole second base, advanced to third on a Santander single, and scored the go-ahead run on a line drive from Fisher that bounced off shortstop Ryan Spikes for an error.
Jeremy Molero (SV, 1) took over in the top of the ninth and recorded the save in dominating fashion, striking out Carlos Colmenarez, Ryan Spikes and Colton Ledbetter to seal the game.
The final series of the year continues Saturday night with the first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
The Woodpeckers are projected to start left-hander Trey Dombroski (6-9, 3.71 ERA), and Charleston will counter with right-hander Santiago Suarez (1-2, 1.45 ERA).
The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a Jeremy Pena Astros jersey, presented by Soldier First Real Estate. Eighty Deuces jerseys will be available for auction.