Matt Fraudin looked like a seasoned veteran in his third professional start for the Washington Wild Things as the right hander threw eight innings of a 3-hit, one-run ball on Wednesday evening in a 10-1 victory over the Frontier Greys at CONSOL Energy Park.
Fraudin (1-1), who was pitching for Gardner Webb University this spring, kept the Greys (35-39) to two hits through six innings. His only blemish in the game came in the seventh when Dillon Haupt led off the inning with a towering home run just inside the left field foul pole.
“I was feeling pretty good out there,” said Fraudin. “There were a couple of pitches where I missed my spots, but for the most part, I was hitting my spots all night.”
Eleven of Fraudin’s twenty four outs recorded came thanks to the ground ball while five more came via strikeout.
“He probably threw five off-speed pitches the whole game,” said Wild Things catcher John Fidanza. “His fastball command was unreal. It was fun and it was impressive.”
The Wild Things (32-42) came out of the gates strong against Greys starter Justin D’Alessandro (5-6) thanks to a Scott Kalamar three-run home run in the first. Sam Mende added a three-run shot in the third to extend the lead to 6-0.
Washington then added on in the middle innings thanks to RBI singles by Austin Wobrock in the fifth and seventh innings and three throwing errors leading to two more runs.
All but one position player — a Maxx Garrett pinch-hit strikeout — reached base in the game with eight of eleven players scoring.
“It was nice to get the win,” said Wild Things manager Bob Bozzuto. “It was nice to get things started so quick with Kalamar’s three-run homer and then adding three more by Mende. It slows the game down a little bit and makes it easier that way for Fraudin to just go out there, throw strikes and take care of business.”
The Wild Things will look to take the three-game series Thursday evening at 7:05.
Starters Lines
(WAS) Fraudin (W, 1-1): 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K’s, 1 HR, 1 WP. 102 Pitches (64 Strikes).
(FRO) D’Allessandro (L, 5-6): 4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 2 K’s, 1 HBP, 2 HR. 101 Pitches (60 Strikes).
(Photo Credit: Washington Wild Things)
