Lynchburg sweeps Salem with 8-7 victory

Sicnarf Loopstok hit his team-leading 17th home run of the season to cap off a four-run seventh that gave Lynchburg an 8-4 lead en route to an 8-7 victory to sweep the Salem Red Sox Sunday at City Stadium.

Loopstok’s three-run blast also capped off a stretch of eight consecutive Hillcats runs after Lynchburg fell behind 4-0 by the middle of the second inning. The Hillcats cut their deficit in half with a two-run double by Jose Medina in the bottom of the second. The two-bagger drove in Ka’ai Tom and Connor Marabell.

The Hillcats evened the score in the sixth, 4-all, with two-out RBIs from Martin Cervenka and Marabell. In the seventh, Sam Haggerty reached on an infield single, and Willi Castro walked to push the possible tying run into scoring position. Andrew Calica hit a sinking line drive to center field that scored Haggerty to give Lynchburg its first lead of the game, 5-4. Loopstok hit the very next pitch over the left-field fence to make it a four-run margin. Loopstok leads the team with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs.

Salem trimmed the Hillcats lead to 8-7 and had the possible tying run in scoring position with one out in the eighth. Jared Robinson entered the game and recorded two outs to keep Lynchburg on top. Robinson notched the first two outs of the ninth inning before turning the ball over to Ben Krauth for a lefty-lefty matchup. Krauth induced a flyout on his first pitch out of the bullpen to earn his third save in three tries.

The Hillcats are now 23-17 in one-run games, which marks the second-most one-run victories of any team in the Carolina League. Wilmington has 24 such wins. Lynchburg owns a 46-10 (.821) record whenever a Hillcat hits a home run.

Lynchburg enjoys an Off Day Monday before beginning a two-city, six-day road trip. The Hillcats will play at Buies Creek Tuesdayat 7 p.m. Dominic DeMasi (5-3, 2.88) will start the series opener for Lynchburg. The game can be heard live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com.