MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - WOODBRIDGE, VA – The curse of Pfitzner Stadium continued for the Warthogs as the Potomac Nationals rallied from a three-run deficit in the ninth inning to claim an 8-7 win over Winston-Salem in 12 innings on Thursday night.  The Warthogs fall to 0-7 at Pfitzner Stadium this season after dropping the series opener of this four-game set.  

Potomac worked across the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning against newly inserted reliever Steven Spurgeon.  Francisco Plasencia led off with a triple and back-to-back intentional walks loaded the bases with no outs.  Next, Trevor Lawhorn slapped a walk-off single thru a drawn-in infield to bring an end to a season-long 4 hour and 23 minute marathon.

Winston-Salem grabbed an early lead when Joe Persichina lifted a solo home run off Jeff Mandel in the second inning.  It was Persichina’s first round-tripper as a Warthog.  Potomac answered back with a pair of runs off Anthony Carter in the bottom the second.  Brian Finegan lined an RBI double and Michael Martinez brought him home with a single to move the Nationals in front 2-1.

Estee Harris smacked a solo shot for the Warthogs in the third inning to knot the score at two.  Once again, the Nationals bounced back as Jhonatan Solano floated an RBI single to left that scored Andrew Lefave for a 3-2 Potomac.  Lefave added to the Nationals advantage in the fourth inning with an RBI double.

The Warthogs trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in the fifth frame when Billy Killian doubled and scored on a triple by Dale Mollenhauer.  Winston-Salem evened the game in the sixth inning when Brett Bonvechio was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Salvador Sanchez.

Winston-Salem plated three runs in the eighth inning against Nationals reliever Martin Beno to snare a 7-4 lead.  While recording just one out, Beno gave up a hit, walked four, hit a batter and tossed two wild pitches before being pulled from the game.

Potomac did not go down quietly as they were able to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning against closer Henry Mabee.  An RBI ground out by Michael Martinez began the rally.  With two outs, Dan Lyons and Dee Brown notched run-scoring singles to send the game into extra innings.

Edulin Abreu (1-0) worked a scoreless 12th inning to collect the win, while Steven Spurgeon (2-2) allowed the winning run to get strapped with the loss.

The second of this four game series will get underway tomorrow night at Pfitzner Stadium.  The Warthogs will send RHP Jacob Rasner (3-5, 4.11) to the mound, while the Nationals are expected to start RHP Luis Atilano (4-0, 2.39).  The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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