Lynchburg Hillcats even series with P-Nats, win 5-1

After being shut out on Thursday, the Lynchburg Hillcats bounced back on Friday, beating the Potomac Nationals, 5-1.

The Hillcats (29-30) did their damage in the early innings to move ahead of Potomac (26-33) to knot up the series at game apiece.

Lynchburg started the scoring in the first inning. Steven Kwan led off the inning with a single and stole second base. Later in the inning with two out, Oscar Gonzalez blooped an RBI single to left field, scoring Kwan for a 1-0 Lynchburg lead.

In the fourth, the Hillcats plated four runs to put the game out of reach. Connor Smith and Luke Wakamatsu each singled to start the inning, and a sacrifice bunt from Gabriel Mejia moved the runners up to second and third base. Kwan knocked home Smith with an RBI single, and Jodd Carter doubled home Wakamatsu to extend Lynchburg’s lead to 3-0. That brought up Nolan Jones, who crushed a two-run home run, his fifth of the year, to widen the gap to 5-0.

Smith and Kwan each finished with multi-hit games for Lynchburg.

Potomac’s only run came on an RBI double from Gage Canning in the fourth inning.

Jean Carlos Mejia started for Lynchburg, and was removed in the third inning due to an undisclosed injury. He lasted two scoreless frames and allowed three hits, walking one and striking out two. Aaron Pinto made his Hillcats debut, and fired two clean innings. Jonathan Teaney (Win, 2-0) worked three scoreless and punched out three. Yapson Gomez tossed two scoreless to preserve the win.

Kyle Johnston (Loss, 5-7) gave up five earned runs on seven hits over four innings. Andrew Istler and Luis Reyes combined for four scoreless innings and Hayden Howard pitched a clean ninth.

The Hillcats and Nationals continue their series on Saturday with the third game of the four-game series. The Nationals will send lefty starter Carson Teel (2-0, 2.77) to the mound while Lynchburg will counter with left-hander Adam Scott (3-5, 3.15). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Pfitzner Stadium.

Max Gun and Anders Jorstad will be on the air at 6:25 p.m. with the Hillcats pre-game show on TuneIn Radio and the Radio434 App.

The Hillcats will return home to face the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Thursday, June 13 for a four-game series. Weekend highlights include Thirsty Thursday, Fantastic Friday, Sparkling Saturday and Sandlot Sunday. Friday’s game will feature a post-game fireworks show presented by Centra while Saturday’s post-game fireworks show will be presented by Hometown Sales & Leasing Lynchburg & Madison Heights.

For tickets or more information, visit lynchburg-hillcats.com, call 434-528-1144, or visit the City Stadium box office.