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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Team Pounds Out 18 Hits, Francis Ties Franchise Record With Five

June 11, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Winston-Salem, NC - Nick Francis tied a franchise record unreached since 2007 with five hits as the Wilmington Blue Rocks (32-28) pounded the Winston-Salem Dash (28-34) on Saturday night, 9-4. The Blue Crew posted its first back-to-back wins since May 24-25 and guaranteed a series victory in the process. Wilmington amassed a season-high 18 hits, including eight in 20 tries with runners in scoring position.

The Blue Rocks never trailed on the night, grabbing a two-run lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Francis and Jose Bonilla. Carlo Testa's RBI double made it 3-0 an inning later before Winston-Salem got on the board with a sacrifice fly by Nick Cioli in the bottom of the second. Thereafter, Wilmington starter Tyler Sample (4-4) found his form.

The hard-throwing tall righty retired 11 in a row at one point. He struck out seven and walked just one over seven innings of work. Tim Ferguson's sac fly made it 4-1 in the fifth while his two-run homer to left-center catapulted the squad to a 6-1 advantage in the seventh. Cioli singled in a pair of scores in the bottom half of the inning as Sample departed with a 6-3 lead.

Joey Lewis, who had one career triple entering the series, recorded his second in as many days in the ninth. His one-out job into the right-field corner knocked in two runs, while area native Whit Merrifield's third hit on the night, an infield job to short, sent in the Rocks' final run for a 9-3 lead.

Right-hander Dusty Odenbach tossed a scoreless eighth for Wilmington before Glenn Gibson allowed a run on three straight two-out hits in the ninth to conclude the game. Dash starter Joe Serafin (0-5) took the loss. He allowed just four runs in six innings despite 12 hits, three walks and two wild pitches against just three strikeouts.

The three-game set concludes at 5 p.m. on Sunday night. Wilmington ace Jake Odorizzi (5-0, 2.03) faces a fill-in starter, right-hander Justin Collop (0-3, 6.86). Broadcast coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. as studio host Adam Dobrowolski brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.

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