10th inning rally leads FredNats past Wood Ducks

The Fredericksburg Nationals won their second game in a row on Wednesday night, collecting three consecutive run-scoring hits with two outs in the tenth inning for a 7-5 win over the Down East Wood Ducks.

In their first extra-inning game of the year, the FredNats got a go-ahead single from Geraldi Diaz to take a 5-4 lead with two outs in the top of the tenth. Braian Fernández and José Sánchez kept the rally going with back-to-back doubles, giving the FredNats a three-run lead that was enough for the win.

Fredericksburg took the initial lead in the top of the first inning, as Viandel Peña doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored on an RBI grounder off the bat of Jecksson Flores. Jake Randa then delivered a single for his team-leading 10th RBI of the year and a 2-0 FredNats lead.

Rodney Theophile pitched well in the longest start of his career, turning in 4.2 innings of three-hit ball. He allowed two runs, but both were unearned after a fifth-inning throwing error from Allan Berríos kickstarted a game-tying two-out rally for the Wood Ducks.

The FredNats jumped back in front in the sixth as Diaz brought home Flores on a run-scoring fielder’s choice, and added another run in the seventh when Peña came home on a double play grounder from Flores. Leading 4-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, a dropped pop-up gave Down East an extra out and Luisangel Acuña took advantage with a game-tying two-run homer.

Leif Strom (W, 1-3) worked out of trouble to put up two scoreless innings of relief for Fredericksburg and send the game to extras. Leury Tejada (L, 1-1) came close to putting up a zero in the tenth, but the FredNats came through with three runs after the second out was recorded. Tanner Driskill (S, 1) allowed the automatic baserunner to score in the bottom of the tenth, but got the job done to earn the save.

The FredNats continue their series at Down East on Thursday as they look for their third win in a row. First pitch from Grainger Stadium is scheduled for 7:00, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 6:45 on the FredNats Baseball Network.