Joe Odom’s two home runs and three RBIs in regulation weren’t enough to end the game after nine innings, so Odom added to his career night with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th to give the Lynchburg Hillcats a 6-5 victory over Winston-Salem at Calvin Falwell Field Monday night.
With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Odom hit a fly ball to left fielder Courtney Hawkins, and Eric Garcia sprinted home from third to beat the throw and provide the eighth walk-off victory of the season for the Hillcats (37-37). It marked the third walk-off out of 10 home games in the month of June.
Though it won the game, Odom’s career-high fourth RBI certainly wasn’t his most impressive. In the sixth inning, Odom cranked a solo home run just to the left of the scoreboard in the left-center field to give the Hillcats a 4-2 lead at the time.
Two innings later, Odom displayed his power again with an even deeper blast to center field to tie the game, 5-5. Odom became the first Hillcat to record a multi-homer game in 2014. With his only two career home runs coming earlier this season, Odom doubled his career total to four over the span of two at-bats. He finished the game 3-for-4, giving him a career high in hits to go along with his personal-best four RBIs.
Ronan Pacheco (2-0) earned the victory with three scoreless innings of relief in which he only allowed one baserunner. Braulio Ortiz (0-7) suffered the loss after surrendering two earned runs over a stretch of 2.2 innings. Jarett Miller did not factor into the decision despite holding Winston-Salem (32-42) to two runs on seven hits in six innings for his third consecutive quality start. One of the runs against Miller was unearned, and the right-hander did not walk anyone while striking out two.
Lynchburg took a 3-0 lead thanks to one run in each of the first three frames. Kyle Wren started the scoring when he hit a leadoff double in the first inning and came home one batter later on an RBI double by Daniel Castro. In the second frame, Will Skinner hit a leadoff double and became Odom’s first RBI of the evening when the starting catcher drove him in with a two-out single to left field.
In the third inning, Castro hit a triple to start things off and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Jose Martinez. Of the Hillcats’ 13 hits, nine of them went for extra bases. Since the All-Star Break, Lynchburg is hitting .347 with 17 doubles, one triple and four home runs in only four games.
Winston-Salem responded with a run in each of the fourth and fifth frames. After lining a two-out single through the left side of the infield, Keon Barnum scored from first base on a fielding error by Kyle Wren off the bat of Zach Voight. The Dash’s next run came on a strikeout and wild pitch that allowed Hawkins to reach with two outs and Jacob May to score, cutting the Hillcats lead to 3-2.
The Dash took its first lead of the contest with three runs on four hits against Benino Pruneda in the seventh. It served as the 11th blown save of the season by the Hillcats bullpen. A two-run triple by Hawkins tied the game at 4-all, and a sacrifice fly by Jason Coats moved the score to 5-4 in favor of Winston-Salem.
Lynchburg will attempt to complete a series sweep Tuesday night when Wes Parsons (4-3, 3.75) takes the mound against Tony Bucciferro (5-5, 3.59) at 7:05pm. Erik Wilson and Kyle West will have the play-by-play beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Amtrak Virginia at 6:40pm on 97.9 The Planet.
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Chris Graham
