Lynchburg wins series finale over Carolina, 5-2

Lynchburg took the series finale against Carolina Sunday at Calvin Falwell Field, 5-2. Luis Lugo earned his seventh win of the season after pitching five innings and surrendering a lone unearned run. Sicnarf Loopstok went 1-1 and delivered a two-run single in the second.

After allowing 10 runs in back-to-back contests the Lynchburg pitching staff held the Mudcats to two runs. Luis Lugo scattered four hits across five innings. The lefty struck out six batters, including striking out the side in the second frame. Billy Strode was the first out of the bullpen for the ‘Cats. He threw two shutout innings while allowing two hits. Jordan Milbrath pitched the eighth inning and allowed a run to cross home after a single by Ryan Gebhardt. David Speer closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning, which included a strikeout.

The Lynchburg offense was held to six hits, but it was able to scratch across five runs. Bobby Bradley and Taylor Murphy singled and doubled respectively to put two runners in scoring position in the second. Sicnarf Loopstok drove in two runs with a two-out single up the middle. Carolina scored a run in the third inning after Sal Giardina singled and came around on a sacrifice fly by Keith Curcio.

The Hillcats were quiet until the seventh inning where they added three more runs. Yu-Cheng Chang doubled to lead off the frame. Alex Monsalve reached on a fielding error and advanced on a passed ball to put runners on the second and third for Paul Hendrix. Hendrixsingled and drove in a run for Lynchburg while reaching second base on the throw. Greg Allen singled to bring in Hendrix and make the score 5-2. All four Hillcats RBIs came with two outs.

The Hillcats and Mudcats completed their 25 game regular season schedule with Lynchburg taking the series 19-6…Lynchburg outscored Carolina 154-97, which included an 11 game winning streak…The Hillcats improved their series record to 18-4-6 this season.

Lynchburg begins a three-game series with Wilmington Monday at City Stadium. Justus Sheffield (7-4, 3.53) will be on the mound for Lynchburg with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 6:15 p.m.