The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (71-58, 39-25) took on the Hickory Crawdads (82-47, 48-17) in game five on Saturday night at L.P. Frans Stadium. Adrian Ardines was on the mound for Fayetteville against Jacob Johnson for Hickory.
The game was scoreless in the first two and a half innings. In the bottom of the third inning, Hickory had the bases loaded when Jay McQueen grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, scoring Curley Martha to give the Crawdads a 1-0 lead. Ardines struck out Brandon Crabtree to end the inning. Adrian Ardines went four innings, allowing two hits, one run, five walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 83 pitches, of which 42 were strikes.
Carson Estridge pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Hickory had runners on the corners with one out when Yolfran Castillo hit a sacrifice bunt to first base, scoring Daniel Flames for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, a lineout by Jay McQueen ended the inning. Estridge went three innings, allowing a run, a walk, and one strikeout, throwing 33 pitches, of which 20 were strikes…