HOLLY SPRINGS, NC- The Holly Springs Salamanders rallied late in the bottom of the 8^th inning to defeat the Florence Red Wolves for the 3^rd time this season by a score of 7-4 at Ting Stadium.

Florence pounced on the Salamanders early when they started the scoring in the top of the 2^nd inning.  Cade Watson and Justin Horn scored on a Kyle McShaffrey double to give the Red Wolves a 2-0 lead early in the contest.

Tanner Roach recorded the 1^st hit of the night for the Salamanders in the 3^rd frame.  Roach would come around to score on the error from Florence’s catcher Watson to ensure the Salamanders would get on the board.

Will Hardee grounded out to the 2^nd baseman, however Hardee would receive a RBI for pushing Horn across the plate for the 2^nd time of the night. Red Wolves would lead 3-2 after four complete innings.

Florence would score their final run in the 7^th as Alex Peterson scored an unearned tally off Nolan Bolt, leading at the stretch 4-2.

In the 8^th inning this began to fall apart for Red Wolves pitcher Landon Lucas after an outstanding outing in relief.  Lucas gave up 3 straight hits that would lead to his exit, including a Josh Hood two-run homer that tied the game at 4-4.  Every Holly Springs batter would come to bat in the 8^th, Ryan Wilson twice.

Two bang-bang plays that drew umpire conferences would put three more runs up on the scoreboard. Out of the 7 runs the Salamanders scored Saturday night, only 3 were earned.

Winning pitcher was Braydon Tucker (1-0) pitching for the 1^st time in a Salamander jersey, Lucas (0-1) was tagged with the loss, and Hunter Stevens (0-0-1), also making his season debut earns a save for Holly Springs.

The Salamanders move to 5-1 on the season, Florence falls to 2-4.  The ‘Manders take on the Tobs Sunday at 5:40pm.  You can catch the Salamanders all season long on flobaseball.tv