From the FredNats:
After losing back-to-back games to the same team for the first time all year, the Fredericksburg Nationals bounced back with a 9-1 win over the Lynchburg Hillcats in game two of Thursday’s doubleheader to split. Lynchburg took game one by a score of 10-7.
Washington’s No. 4 overall prospect Jackson Rutledge came off the injured list to make his first start of 2022 in game one, and received a no-decision. The righty pitched three innings and gave up seven hits and five earned runs with three strikeouts.
The FredNats played small ball on their way to four runs in the 4th inning, but the Hillcats got three in the 2nd, two in the 3rd, and five in the 4th to win their second straight game to start the series. Jeremy De La Rosa continued to tear the cover off the ball of late, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the game.
In game two, it was all Fredericksburg.
Rodney Theophile won his third game of the season and continued to dominate opposing hitters, pitching five innings of one-run ball. He allowed four hits, no walks and struck out 10 to improve to 3-0 on the year. Jose Ferrer and Jack Sinclair pitched scoreless innings out of the FredNat pen to secure the win.
At the plate, the top three men in the lineup – Jacob Young, Drew Millas and De La Rosa – combined for six hits and five RBIs. Millas had four of those RBIs, including a no-doubter two-run homer in the 7th. Young, Steven Williams and Leandro Emiliani all drove in runs for the FredNats, who scored in four of the seven innings to win comfortably.
The two teams are scheduled to play the final game of the series in Lynchburg on Friday at 6:30 p.m. before the series shifts back to Fredericksburg for the last two games.
