After an 0-15 start to their inaugural season, the Fredericksburg Nationals finally achieved their first win in team history on Friday night with a 2-1 victory over the Salem Red Sox.
Karlo Seijas (W, 1-0) delivered 7.0 shutout innings of three-hit ball on only 80 pitches to earn the winning decision, and Lucas Knowles (S, 1) worked around a late Salem threat to nail down the six-out save. A sellout crowd of 2080 fans witnessed Knowles strike out Alex Erro with the tying run at second to end the ballgame and send the FredNats to their first win.
Seijas put up zeroes in the first two innings, and Fredericksburg got the bats going in the bottom of the second against Salem starter Aldo Ramirez (L, 0-1). Jackson Coutts, in his first professional at-bat, evaded a Ramirez tag on a comebacker to the mound for a leadoff infield single. Onix Vega singled down the left field line, and took second on the throw to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Two batters later, Jeremy Ydens delivered an RBI single to left field to put the FredNats up 1-0.
In the third, J.T. Arruda led off the frame with his second of three singles on the night and promptly stole second, his team-leading fourth swipe of the season. He advanced to third on a throwing error, and scored on a Ramirez wild pitch to extend the lead to 2-0. That would be the final FredNats run, as the offense went 1-for-12 with men in scoring position over the course of the game.
Seijas was brilliant, becoming the first Fredericksburg starter to throw a pitch in the sixth inning and ultimately completing 7.0 innings while allowing only three singles while striking out eight. Knowles struck out the side in order in the eighth, and allowed back-to-back doubles with two outs in the ninth before striking out Erro to end the game and seal the win.
The FredNats will try to start a winning streak as they continue their series against the Red Sox on Saturday. First pitch from FredNats Ballpark is scheduled for 6:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 5:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network. A video broadcast of every home game is available with a subscription to MiLB.tv.
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Chris Graham
