Aaron Wilkerson carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning of game two of Saturday’s doubleheader at LewisGale Field and picked up his first win as the Salem Red Sox knocked off the Carolina Mudcats, 4-2. Carolina took the opener, 6-1.
Wilkerson, making a spot start for the Sox, faced the minimum through 4.2 innings, allowing just one walk, which was erased on a caught stealing. Jose Briceno then singled with two outs to break up the no-hit bid. Overall, Wilkerson (1-0) allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out six in five innings.
Salem gave him plenty of support in the early portion of game, striking first in the second inning. Jordan Betts reached on a two-out infield single and scored on an RBI double by Mario Martinez to make it 1-0. An inning later, Sam Travis tripled home Tzu-Wei Lin to double the lead.
In the fourth inning, Martinez came through again with an RBI single to right-center, scoring Kevin Heller. Martinez was then brought home on an RBI double by Hector Lorenzana, pushing the lead to 4-0.
With the lead sliced to 4-2, Austin Maddox came on in the sixth and gave up just one hit in two scoreless innings to pick up his fifth save of the year. Andrew Waszak (1-1) started for Carolina and gave up two runs on three hits in three innings to take the loss.
Carolina took game one, jumping on Salem starter Trey Ball in the first inning with a three-run home run by Jacob Schrader. The Mudcats added a run in the fourth when Schrader tripled and scored on a sac fly. Schrader was at it again in the sixth, leading off with a double and scoring on a Carlos Franco RBI double. Franco was brought home by Joe Odom’s single to stretch the advantage to 6-0.
Schrader finished a single shy of the cycle in game one for Carolina, going 3-for-4 with a double, triple, home run, three runs scored, and three RBI. Ball (2-3) took the loss for the Sox, allowing six runs on seven this in five-plus innings.
Salem struggled to scratch across anything against the Mudcats’ Lucas Sims. The Sox lone run came in the last of the sixth on a sac fly from Travis, scoring Lin, who had tripled. Sims (2-3) tossed a seven-inning complete game, allowing a run on seven hits with six strikeouts.
With the doubleheader split, Salem now sits at 16-14 while Carolina’s is now 17-12. The teams continue the five-game series on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Teddy Stankiewicz (0-4, 4.39) starts for Salem against Carolina’s Andrew Thurman (3-2, 2.77).
The first 500 fans will receive a Jake Romanski poster, which can be signed after the game. Kids will also be able to run the bases postgame. As part of Pink in the Park weekend, the Red Sox will be sporting pink bats, which will be auctioned off during the contest. Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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Chris Graham
