The Carolina Mudcats built an early 5-0 advantage and held on late to beat the Lynchburg Hillcats 5-3 on Saturday at Five County Stadium.

Carolin (46-27 overall, 5-3 second half) opened the scoring in the third inning thanks to back-to-back RBI singles from Cooper Pratt and Daniel Guilarte to build the early 2-0 lead.

The Mudcats added to their lead one inning later when Yhoswar Garcia created a run on his own; the outfielder doubled down the left field line and stole third before crossing home on a wild pitch to make it 3-0 Mudcats.

The final runs crossed for the Mudcats in the fifth inning thanks to free offense from Hillcat reliever Abel Brito who walked three batters and hit one in the fifth inning allowing two runs to score without the benefit of a hit and gave the Carolina 5-0 lead.

Lynchburg (41-33 overall, 4-4 second half) scored all their runs in the sixth against Mudcat reliever Harrison Durow. Ralphy Velazquez led off the frame with a double which was followed by a walk to Jaison Chourio and a single by Estaban Gonzalez which loaded the bases before a pair of RBI singles from Juan Benjamin and Jose Pastrano to make it 5-2. Lexer Saduy added a sacrifice fly for the 5-3 score after six.

The Hillcats would get no closer as Tyler Bryant (S, 1) worked the final two frames without allowing a run to nail down the ballgame and give the Mudcats no worse than a series split.

Bishop Letson (W, 1-3) had perhaps his best start of the season working five shutout innings while scattering five hits to pick up the victory.

The series concludes Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium as Alex Clemmey (1-3, 5.76) gets the ball for Lynchburg while Carolina counters with Jeferson Figueroa (3-1, 2.28). First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Source: wralsportsfan.com