Lynchburg trailed 2-1 heading into the ninth but cranked out a seven-run frame to steal away an 8-2 win from the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday night at Five County Stadium. With the victory and a Frederick Keys loss, the Hillcats magic number sits at five.
WEBSTER DOMINANT
Carolina pitcher Seth Webster had the Hillcats figured out on Thursday night. The righty held the Hillcats scoreless until the seventh inning but allowed just one run on eight hits while striking out seven batters. Carolina gave Webster a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI single by Dustin Peterson and the lead remained until the seventh.
FINALLY BREAKING THROUGH
Dace Kime turned in another quality start and held the Mudcats scoreless through the next five innings after surrendering the first-inning run. Lynchburg finally broke through in the top of the seventh to give Kime some run support as Claudio Bautistadoubled to drive home Mike Papi, who had singled earlier in the frame, to tie the game at one.
AUDIO: Bautista RBI double in seventh
TIE IS SHORT LIVED
Carolina didn’t wait long to regain the lead as Jose Briceno singled to lead off the home half of the seventh and scored on a RBI groundout by Conner Lien to give the Mudcats a 2-1 lead.
ERUPTING IN THE NINTH
Dorssys Paulino led off the ninth with a walk and started a chain reaction of hits for the Hillcats who rallied back for the win.Paulino advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a RBI single by Eric Haase that tied the game at two. The Hillcats cranked out six straight hits after Haase’s single including a RBI double by Bautista, a RBI single by Ivan Castillo, and a two-RBI single by Yhoxian Medina. Joe Sever added a single that scored Medina, and Dorssys Paulino hit a sacrifice fly to right to round out a seven-run frame that gave the Hillcats an 8-2 come-from-behind lead.
AUDIO: Bautista RBI double in ninth
KEEPING UP WITH THE CATS
Perci Garner pitched just 2/3 of an inning, but earned his second win…Grant Sides and David Speer each pitched a scoreless inning to help seal the victory…The Hillcats bullpen has not surrendered a run through the last nine contests bringing the total to 25 consecutive scoreless innings for the relievers…With the victory and a Frederick loss to Winston-Salem, the Hillcats magic number drops to five with 10 games remaining…Every Hillcat in the lineup had a hit in the game, and five Lynchburg players recorded multi-hit performances.
UP NEXT
Lynchburg looks to make it back-to-back wins against the Carolina Mudcats on Friday night at 7 p.m. Fans can tune in to the action on ESPN Virginia 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com beginning at 6:40 p.m. for the Hillcats On-Deck Show.
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Chris Graham
