LYNCHBURG, VA - A late collapse spelled disaster for the Fredericksburg Nationals on Sunday afternoon, losing 4-2 to the Lynchburg Hillcats in the series finale of Fredericksburg’s final road trip of the regular season.
Fredericksburg (61-61, 31-26) held a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning when Lynchburg scored three runs to take the lead for good, setting the FredNats down quietly in the ninth outside of a Luke Dickerson walk.
Nationals top prospect Eli Willits saw his nine-game hitting streak to begin his professional career come to an end on Sunday as he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Recently acquired arm R.J. Sales looked sharp once again for Fredericksburg, striking out three and allowing five hits over five scoreless innings of work.
Reliever Angel Roman had success on the mound as well, allowing one run across two innings of work, but it was Ryan Minckler who ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing all three runs in 0.1 innings of work. The three runs were all earned as well.
Fredericksburg now takes a 1.5 game lead in the North Division of the Carolina League into their final series and homestand of the regular season as the Carolina Mudcats come to town starting Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. EST.