FREDERICKSBURG, V.A. – The Fredericksburg Nationals scored the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to take game one of the Carolina League North Division Series 7-6 on Tuesday night at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.
Fredericksburg (1-0) broke open the tie ball game in the seventh against Jesus Broca (L, 0-1). Elijah Green was hit by a pitch to start the inning before stealing second and advancing to third on a fly out. Green would score one batter later when Kevin Bazzell sent a fly ball to right field to bring home the eventual game-winning run and give the Nationals a 7-6 lead.
Carolina (0-1) would have multiple chances to tie or take the lead including in the eighth when they left two runners on base but could not break through against Travis Sthele (W, 1-0). For the game the Mudcats left six men on base.
The Nationals jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a pair of runs in the opening frame against Carolina starter Daniel Corniel thanks to a failed pickoff attempt and a Seaver King ground out. The second run scored on a Brandon Pimentel base hit to score King and a 2-0 advantage.
Carolina came charging back with six-runs in the fourth inning. The big inning was highlighted by an RBI single from Marco Dinges, Daniel Guilarte and Yophery Rodriguez; Meanwhile, Yhoswar Garcia added an RBI double and a 6-3 Mudcats advantage.
Leading by a run and with a pair of runners on base in the eighth, Fredericksburg turned the ball over to Robert Cranz (S, 1) who worked the final 1.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts to preserve the 7-6 victory for the Nationals.
The series shifts to Five County Stadium on Thursday night where the Mudcats will need to win to force a decisive third game on Friday.
First pitch on Thursday night is set for 6:30 p.m. Carolina will give the ball to RHP Manuel Rodriguez while Fredericksburg will counter with RHP Travis Sykora.
