FredNats lose 4th straight Friday night

The Fayetteville Woodpeckers continued their winning ways in a 8-2 victory against the Fredericksburg Nationals on Friday night. Jarlin Susana got off to a much better start than he did in his last time out, sending Fayetteville down in order in the bottom of the first inning. But the tall right-hander walked the leadoff man in the second, setting the scene for some trouble. Justin Williams doubled with one out off Susana, putting runners on second and third, before Susana walked Kobe Kato to load the bases. But the Nationals’ 6th overall prospect found an extra gear, inducing a pop out and a strikeout to escape the jam. Susana then came out guns blazing in the third, striking out the side. For Fayetteville, Jose Fluery stumped the FredNats lineup. The 21-year-old flew through 4.2 innings, allowing just a pair of base hits and striking out eight batters. Fleury was lifted with two outs in the 5th, before Zack Matthews recorded the final out of the frame. In the home half of the fifth, the Woodpeckers had the first three batters of the inning all reach safely to load the bases. Zach Cole Jr. then worked a walk against Jose Atencio for the games’ first run. Atencio struck out Sandro Gaston after that, but Jackson Loftin smacked a two-run single to drive in Ryan Clifford and Tyler Whitaker. Loftin then stole second, before Justin Williams tripled to drive in two more runs, making it 5-0 Fayetteville. A single later in the frame and an errant pick off attempt turned into another two runs, making it a seven run fifth inning for the Woodpeckers. Fredericksburg battled back to plate two runs in the top of the ninth after a brief rain delay, but could not complete the comeback as the Woodpeckers took an 8-2 victory. Zach Matthews was the winner for Fayetteville, with Jose Atencio taking the loss on his record. Game five features Brad Lord making his first career start for the Freddies, against southpaw Jose Nodal for Fayetteville. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05.