August 8, 2004: CAROLINA 8, Huntsville 4

Zebulon, NC - Jason Stokes homered and drove in three runs to lead Carolina to an 8-4 victory over the Huntsville Stars Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium.

Stokes drilled a first-pitch from Paul Stewart against the left field scoreboard as part of a five-run fourth inning. Ryan Minor (HR, 5, 1-5, rbi) went deep two batters later.

Carolina (18-23) split the four-game set against the Stars (22-19), won the season series with the Stars 5-2, and moved into fourth place within 9 1/2 games of East-leading Chattanooga.

Trevor Hutchinson (W, 8-6, 7ip, 5h, 2r, 2er, 2w, 1k) won his third straight start, working seven innings and allowing only two runs in the fourth inning.

The Mudcats scored twice in the first inning against Matt Ford (L, 1-5) on an error by shortstop Johnny Raburn and a two-out single by Andy Rohleder (1-3, rbi, w). Ford, who won on Opening Night for Huntsville, remained winless since, spanning 15 starts including five losses.

Josh Willingham (HR, 18, 1-4, rbi, w, gdp) homered against the top of the scoreboard in the third against Ford, his first since his only major league home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 18.

Mike Flannery (ND, 1ip, 3h, 2r, 2er, 0w, 1k) allowed three hits and two runs in the eighth inning, while Randy Messenger (ND, 1ip, 0h, 0r, 0w, 0k) pitched a perfect ninth.

Billy Hall (1-4, 2r, w, 2sb) reached on a single and walk, scoring twice and stealing two bases, reaching 34 this season.

Carolina embarks on its longest road trip of the season, opening a 12-game, 12-day swing Monday night in Sevierville, TN. Nic Ungs (7-7, 4.40) starts against Tennessee's Jeremy Cook (6-3, 4.48) at 7:15 PM ET.

Huntsville 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 --- 4 8 3 5
Carolina 2 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 x --- 8 11 0 10

WP - Hutchinson (8-6)
LP - Ford (1-5)
S - None.

HR - Willingham (18), Stokes (20), Minor (5)

Time: 2:45
Att: 5,115

Box Score
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