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June 3rd, 2025
Zebulon, NC- The Carolina Mudcats (34-16) played host to the Charleston RiverDogs (24-28) in a Tuesday evening contest. The Mudcats entered tonight’s contest 3.0 games ahead of the Lynchburg Hillcats (31-21) in the North Division standing. The Mudcats sent Travis Smith (0-2) to the mound who entered tonight’s game with a 3.72 ERA in 29 innings pitched. The RiverDogs sent Jayden Voelker (2-5) to the mound who entered tonight’s game with a 4.97 ERA in 29 innings pitched. Eric Bitonti entered tonight tied for 3rd in the Carolina League in home runs with 7 on the season.
The Mudcats started the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd when Eric Bitonti hit a 2 run home run to center field which gave the Mudcats a 2-0 lead. The Mudcats struck again in the bottom of the 4th when Filippo Di Turi scored on a single to left field by Jesus Made which increased the Mudcats lead to 3-0. Then, Reece Walling and Yannic Walther scored on a double to left field by Braylon Payne which expanded the Mudcats lead to 5-0. The Mudcats struck again in the bottom of the 5th when Tyler Rodriguez scored on a walk by Jesus Made that increased the Mudcats lead to 6-0.
Travis Smith threw 4.2 scoreless innings where he only allowed 1 hit. Engert Garcia threw 1.1 scoreless innings where he only allowed 2 walks.
The Mudcats added some insurance in the bottom of the 7th when Filippo Di Turi scored on an error by Jose Monzon which increased the Mudcats lead to 7-0. Then, Tyler Rodriguez scored on a single by Jesus Made which expanded the Mudcats lead to 8-0. Later in the inning Yannic Walther scored on a wild pitch by Dalton Fowler which increased the Mudcats lead to 9-0. Then, Jesus Made scored on a triple by Luis Pena which expanded the Mudcats lead to 10-0. Jose Anderson and Eric Bitonti connected on a 9-3 double play that secured the 10-0 win for the Mudcats.
Bjorn Johnson threw 2.1 scoreless innings where he only allowed 2 hits. Jose Perez threw 1 scoreless inning where he allowed no walks and no hits. Garrett Hodges threw 2 scoreless innings where he only allowed 2 hits.
The winning pitcher for the Mudcats was Bjorn Johnson (5-1) for his 2.1 scoreless innings. The losing pitcher for the RiverDogs was Jayden Voelker for his 4.2 innings where he allowed 6 runs. The Mudcats improved their record to 34-16 while the RiverDogs fell to 24-28 on the season. The Mudcats exited tonight 4.0 games ahead of the Lynchburg Hillcats in the North Division standings. The Mudcats are back in action Wednesday night at 6:30 pm at Five County Stadium.
Manager Stanley met with the media following the conclusion of the game. When asked about the production from the bottom of the lineup tonight, Manager Stanley said:
“Yeah, it’s always good to me to get contributions up and down the lineup. I feel like we have a lot of guys out there who can get the job done, and tonight was a good example of that.”
When asked about the recent performance of Eric Bitonti, Manager Stanley said:
“Yeah, we saw that last year a little bit, and when he gets hot, he really gets hot, and with his kind of power. Not surprised we can see a lot of homers.
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