Fayetteville, NC - Waner Luciano blasted a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand the Fayetteville Woodpeckers a 3-2 win in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader with the Charleston RiverDogs at Segra Stadium. The Woodpeckers also held on for a 4-1 win in the resumption of Friday’s suspended game to earn a sweep of the twin bill. Jhon Diaz blasted two solo home runs for the RiverDogs in the second contest.
In the resumption of Friday’s suspended game, Fayetteville (12-11, 41-48) already possessed a 3-1 lead. They didn’t wait long to add to it against Hayden Snelsire, who was making his return from the injured list. Jancel Villaroel blasted a solo home run as the second batter in the bottom of the third inning to make it 4-1.
The RiverDogs (14-8, 41-46) had plenty of opportunities to close the gap but failed to do so. Left-hander Colby Langford shut them out over the final 5.0 innings of the contest, earning his fourth win in the process. Charleston put a runner in scoring position in three innings.
Snelsire allowed the lone run in the portion of the game played on Saturday in his first outing since May 25. Jonalbert Rumbol and Dalton Fowler combined to work 2.1 scoreless innings to finish the contest.
Villaroel finished the game 2-3 with three runs batted in and his first home run of the season. He was the only player in either lineup to collect multiple hits.
In the nightcap, the RiverDogs enjoyed a quick start as Diaz yanked a line drive home run over the right field wall three batters into the contest. The solo home run, his third of the season, gave the visitors a quick 1-0 advantage.
Fayetteville snapped Drew Dowd’s scoreless inning streak in the bottom of the third to pull even. Dowd allowed a leadoff single to Alberto Hernandez and then walked consecutive hitters with two outs to load the bases. Villaroel continued his big day with an RBI single to left. Dowd retired the next two hitters to leave the bases loaded and keep the score tied.
Diaz blasted another solo home run to hand the RiverDogs the lead once again in the top of the sixth. He became the first player this season to collect multiple home runs in a game. The last player to achieve the feat was Ryan Cermak at Columbia in August of the 2023 campaign.
The lead was short-lived as Fayetteville took advantage of a series of strange occurrences to pull even at 2-2 in the bottom of the same frame. Will Stevens retired the first batter he faced but walked the next two. Runners then moved to second and third with one out via a balk from the right-hander. Alberto Hernandez chopped to first with Bryan Broecker stepping on the base for the second out without a run scoring. However, Victor Diaz got caught in a rundown between second and third and, when the RiverDogs threw the ball away, Xavier Casserilla scored from third.
Charleston was retired in order in the top of the seventh inning and Stevens came back out for the bottom half. He fell behind Luciano 3-0 before the left fielder clubbed a walk-off home run onto the berm in left field to hand Fayetteville the doubleheader sweep.
Diaz provided three of the RiverDogs four hits in the second game. Casserilla was not retired in the seven spot for the Woodpeckers, finishing 2-2 with a double and a walk.
Dowd set a new season-high for consecutive scoreless innings with 17.1. He did not factor in the decision after allowing one run in 3.2 frames. Gerlin Rosario lowered his ERA to 1.63 with 1.1 scoreless innings out of the pen.
The series wraps up on Sunday evening with a 5:05 p.m. first pitch. RHP Santiago Suarez (5-5, 4.25) is scheduled to start on the mound for the RiverDogs. Fayetteville will counter with RHP Yeriel Santos (4-5, 3.67).
Game 1
Fayetteville 4, Charleston 1 (7 Innings)
July 20, 2024
Click here for the box score
Charleston (R-H-E): 1-4-0
Fayetteville (R-H-E): 4-8-1
Win: Langford (4-1)
Loss: Garcia (3-5)
Save:
HR: Charleston: None
HR: Fayetteville: Jancel Villaroel (1, 3rd inning, 0 on base)
Game 2
Fayetteville 3, Charleston 2 (7 Innings)
Click here for the box score
Charleston (R-H-E): 2-4-0
Fayetteville (R-H-E): 3-7-0
Win: Almonte (1-1)
Loss: Stevens (1-3)
Save:
HR: Charleston: Jhon Diaz 2 (3, 1st inning, 0 on base), (4, 6th inning, 0 on base)
HR: Fayetteville: Waner Luciano (3, 7th inning, 0 on base)
