Toledo 9, Charlotte 6 (11 innings)
Starter Terance Marin struck out 7 over 5.1 innings and J.B. Shuck had three hits but the Knights fell to the Toledo Mud Hens in 11 innings Friday. The Knights led into the 8th inning but Toledo pulled even on an unearned run off Scott Carroll, who was making his first appearance since April 7th. Jacob May went 2-5 with a triple and catcher Vinny Rottino added a two-run home run in the losing effort.
Erik Johnson will start Saturday against Toledo in a rematch against Daniel Norris and the Mud Hens from his last outing.
The Birmingham Barons were rained out on Friday night and will play a double-header on Saturday with Carson Fulmer getting the start in game 1 and David Holmberg in game 2.
Winston-Salem 3, Frederick 2
The Winston-Salem Dash won behind a fantastic start from Matt Cooper and a go-ahead 9th inning home run from red hot Nick Basto. Cooper was brilliant over seven innings, only allowing two runs on two hits while striking out eight. Cooper has excelled in his first year as a starter, striking out 35 batters over 28 innings and owning a 3.54 ERA. As good as Cooper has been, he can’t compare to the offensive onslaught that Basto has put on to start to the 2016 season. The 22 year-old former 5th round pick is hitting an insane .435/.484/.682 through his first 21 games of the season. Third baseman Gerson Montilla went 2-4 and shortstop Grant Massey went 1-3 in his Winston-Salem debut.
The Dash will send Thaddius Lowry to the hill Saturday as they continue their road series against Frederick.
Columbia 9, Kannapolis 2
Ryan Riga was roughed up over his four innings of work and the Intimidators were routed against Columbia. Drew Hasler pitched two hitless and scoreless innings in relief of Riga to minimize the damage.
The Kannapolis offense had eight hits from eight different members of the lineup including a triple from Seby Zavala and Dante Flores. Micker Adolfo added his 3rd double of the year as he went 1-4 with a strikeout. Adolfo has had a slow start to his season, slashing .208/.222/.264 and a concerning 21 strikeouts to just one walk.
The Intimidators send Zachary Thompson to the mound on Saturday.
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