Mudcats’ Povse dominates again as Edgerton and Meneses homer in 5-2 home win

Max Povse struck out seven batters over a career high 7  2/3 innings pitched, Jordan Edgerton hit a two-run home run in the first and Joey Meneses hit a solo home run in the fourth as the Mudcats defeated the Blue Rocks 5-2 at Five County Stadium in Zebulon on Tuesday night.

Edgerton was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs batted in, and Meneses was 1-for-2 with a home run for Carolina (8-11) in the series opening win against the Blue Rocks (6-13). The home runs for Edgerton and Meneses were the first of the season for both hitters.

Povse (2-1, 1.69) allowed a first inning RBI double to Ryan O’Hearn, but quickly bounced back by retiring the next 12 he faced in consecutive order while earning his second win of the season. Povse has turned in four straight quality starts this season and has struck out 23 over 26  2/3 innings pitched. He struck out seven and scattered five hits in Tuesday’s victory.

The Mudcats answered Wilmington’s one run first with a three-run bottom side to take a 3-1 lead. Keith Curcio started the first inning rally with a single to left and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Omar Obregon. Curcio then scored from second on Dansby Swanson’s league leading 10th double of the season. The game was tied 1-1 until Edgerton broke the tie with his two-run home run to left.

Wilmington starter and Apex High School alum Matt Tenuta allowed all three first-inning runs and later allowed Meneses’ solo blast in the fourth. Carolina led 4-1 after the fourth and managed to score four runs on six hits against Tenuta (2-1, 4.29) who left after the sixth. Tenuta finished the start with a walk and four strikeouts while taking his first loss of the season.

O’Hearn struck again with a solo home run off Povse in the seventh and was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double for the Blue Rocks in the loss.

The Mudcats tacked on an insurance run in the eighth on a two-out RBI single to left from Ryan Gebhardt. Swanson scored from third on Gebhardt’s RBI single in the eighth after starting the inning with a walk and then stealing both second and third in the frame. For Gebhardt, the RBI single resulted in his first run-scoring hit of the season. The same was true for Meneses and his home run in the fourth.

Relievers Brennan Henry and Derek Gordon pitched the final two innings for the Blue Rocks in the loss. Henry walked three, allowed one run and struck out two over 1  1/3 inning pitched. Gordon, meanwhile, allowed a hit and one of two inherited runners to score in his appearance.

Carolina led 5-2 in the eighth before handing the ball to Chase Johnson-Mullins in the ninth. Johnson-Mullins struck out two and retired the side in order in the ninth while converting his fourth save of the season. Johnson-Mullins (S, 4) followed fellow reliever Wes Parsons after he finished out the eighth in place of Povse. Parsons pitched around a walk while getting one out in the eighth to end the inning in front of Johnson-Mullins.

The victory gave the Mudcats a 1-0 series lead and snapped a short two-game losing streak. The Mudcats and Blue Rocks will continue the series Wednesday night with RHP Ryan Clark (0-2, 9.00) starting against Wilmington’s RHP Josh Staumont (0-2, 2.08). Wednesday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Five County Stadium.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Mudcats’ Povse dominates again as Edgerton and Meneses homer in 5-2 home win."