Fungo Take Down Steamers, Walks from Arms Burn Clams
Edenton, NC – One night after the most dominant pitching performance of the season, the Clams’ arms were unable to limit the big innings at the dish. The Wake Forest Fungo defeated the Edenton Steamers, 8-3, Tuesday night at Historic Hicks Field. The Clams’ pitching struggles headlined a game filled with fielding blunders and an inconsistent offense from the home side.
In the top of the second inning, the Fungo got the offense going against starter Zane Loveday with some help from the Clams’ defense.
With one on and one out, Wake Forest third baseman Lawson Wheeler hit a ground ball that was mishandled by second baseman Tanner Knowles. Two batters later designated hitter Hunter Stone reached on another misplay by Knowles. The infielder now has 6 errors in 10 games played.
One batter later, Wake Forest catcher Jason Jelic plated two on a 2 RBI single, 2-1 Fungo.
An inning later, the wheels came off for Loveday. The southpaw from Fairmount State allowed six straight batters to reach and two runs to score to begin the inning on four walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a two-RBI double.
Loveday was a late addition to the hill for tonight’s game. Hank Downum was originally scheduled to start but Loveday took the ball after the Clams re-shuffled their rotation ahead of the matchup.
The 6’6″ left-handed arm exited with 2.0 innings pitched, three hits allowed, six runs, four earned runs, and five walks.
In relief, the Clams turned to William Stewart, Luke Dilda, and Hank Downum to keep the Wake Forest lead in check.
Stewart and Downum delivered scoreless performances while Dilda struggled with command, surrendering four walks and two unearned runs.
One night after the four pitchers (Levy, Costin, Bausas, and Baumgardner) allowed three total bases the Clams’ pitching allowed eight runs and five hits and eleven free passes.
With the bats, the Clams were free-swinging against the combination of starter Dawson Smith, and relievers Josh Plisko and Tommy Martinez.
The teal and black scored three runs on seven hits. One run in the 1st inning on an RBI groundout by Davis Halstead, a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Ryan Kay, and a run in the eighth on a throwing error by Wheeler at third.
At the dish, the Clams’ message was simple: Swing early in the count. The three Fungo pitchers combined for 129 pitches with no pitcher throwing over 65. On the flip side, the Steamers’ pitchers threw 177 pitches.
Despite what otherwise was a disappointing day offensively, a positive at the plate for Edenton was the continued success of Geomar Santana. Santana extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a pair of singles in tonight’s game. The 2023 PCL All-Star now has 13 hits in his last 10 ball games with a .464 batting average batting in the heart of the lineup.
Santana and the rest of the Clams will hit the road for the next ballgame. The Steamers will travel to Coy Tillet Sr. Memorial Field, Wednesday night, to take on the Outer Banks Scallywags. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
If you cannot make it to the game you can tune into the Steamers YouTube page, your home for every Steamers home game, and a select few road games.