Winston-Salem 9, Salem 6
W: Matt Cooper (1-1)
L: Matt Kent (1-1)
S: None
SALEM, Va. (April 23, 2016) – For a third consecutive night, Winston-Salem never trailed en route to a sizable victory over first-place Salem. In Saturday’s contest, a six-run sixth was the difference in the Dash’s 9-6 win at LewisGale Field.
On Thursday and Friday, the Dash (7-10) took the lead for good in the first, but this game was even through five innings before Winston-Salem mustered its momentum-seizing surge. The bottom third of the Dash’s order loaded the bases to begin the frame against Salem starter Matt Kent (1-1), who then exited the game.
Against reliever Adam Lau, the Dash brought all three inherited runners home, along with three more who were charged to Lau. The first tally scored on a wild pitch, while Toby Thomas leveled a two-run double to the wall in right to close the book on Kent. Later in the frame, Nick Basto walked home a run, and Brett Austin recorded the exclamation point, a two-run single to center.
This was more than enough offense for Dash starter Matt Cooper (1-1), who tossed six innings for the first time in his professional career. He whiffed a career-high nine and limited Salem to just two runs on six hits for his first win as a starter in the Minor Leagues.
Salem (10-7) cut the Dash’s lead in half with three in the seventh, but the Red Sox would get no closer. The Dash added a run in the top of the eighth on a wild pitch, and the Red Sox plated a run in the ninth to complete the scoring.
Both teams logged a run in two of the game’s first three innings. Winston-Salem plated its ninth first-inning run of the weekend with a Marcus Davis RBI infield single, but Salem knotted the contest thanks to a Nick Longhi run-scoring single in the bottom half. Hunter Jones’ RBI single gave the Dash a 2-1 lead in the second, and Longhi recorded an RBI double in the third to deadlock the game for the final time.
The Dash’s offense has thrived during the first three games of this series. Winston-Salem has amassed 29 runs, its largest three-game output since a 31-run showing from May 6-8, 2015. During these victories, the Dash have banged out 48 hits and are hitting .378 as a club.
Eight Winston-Salem starters recorded at least one hit, while seven scored and five collected an RBI. Jones reached base in five of his six plate appearances, while Basto pushed his league-leading average to .424 with a 3-for-4 showing. He is now 10-for-15 in this series. With two more hits Saturday, Louie Lechich is now 7-for-15 in the series after starting the season with just seven hits in his first 54 at-bats.
On Sunday at 4:05 p.m., Winston-Salem aims for its first series sweep of the season. Thad Lowry (0-1, 3.77 ERA) takes the mound for the Dash against fellow right-hander Travis Lakins (1-1, 3.29 ERA). Pregame coverage begins at 3:50 p.m. on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn App.
The Dash return home this Tuesday, April 26, for the first All-You-Can-Eat for Free Night at BB&T Ballpark. Normal ticket prices apply, and all the hot dogs and burgers are on us through the seventh inning. Get your tickets by calling (336) 714-2287 or visiting wsdash.com.
