Zebulon, NC - Jon Hamilton had four hits while Skip Schumaker and Chris Duncan hit solo homers in the fifth inning as Tennessee defeated Carolina 7-5 on Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium.
The Smokies (9-13) rapped 14 hits en route to a series split with Carolina (9-13), after the Mudcats won the first two games on Thursday and Friday night.
Nic Ungs (L, 5-6, 5ip, 7h, 44, 3er, 0w, 3k) earned the loss working five innings allowing three earned runs and fanning three.
Jason Stokes (HR, 18, 2-3, 2r, rbi, 2w) homered for the second time in the series, a solo shot in the second inning to tie the game 1-1. Carolina moved ahead in the second with an unearned run knocked home on a double by Casey Grzecka (1-2, 2b, rbi).
The Smokies tied the game 2-2 in the third inning, then went ahead on the solo homers in the fifth by Schumaker and Duncan.
Reliever Brian Strelitz (ND, 0.1ip, 3h, 2r, 1er, 1w, 0k) allowed two runs in the sixth inning, but nearly escaped the frame before throwing a would-be double play grounder into centerfield for an error.
The Mudcats scored twice in the sixth on a pinch-hit two-run single by Matt Demarco (1-1, 2rbi) with the bases loaded, but the Mudcats stranded the bases loaded in the seventh.
In the ninth, with Stokes batting with two outs as the tying run, the Smokies intentionally walked him to fill the bases ahead of Michael Tucker (0-2, k), who popped out.
Rob Ryan (3-5) collected three singles in his Carolina debut. Ryan started in right field.
Carolina sends Jeff Fulchino against Greenville's Izzy Pineda in the series opener at Five County on Monday night at 7:15 PM ET.
Tennessee 0 1 1 0 2 2 1 0 0 --- 7 14 2 10
Carolina 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 --- 5 8 3 9
WP - Axelson (5-4)
LP - Ungs (5-6)
S - Cali (13)
HR - Stokes (18), Schumaker (2), Duncan (10)
Box Score
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