Huntsville, AL --- Eric Riggs hit a two-run homer to tie first-place Huntsville while Jai Miller hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to defeat the Stars in the opener of a critical five-game series at Joe Davis Stadium on Monday night.  

After Huntsville assumed a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a Steve Sollman two-run shot to left against starter James Russ, Riggs evened the game in the sixth, driving a 2-1 pitch from Stars starter Corey Thurman (L, 4-7) over the right field wall for his 11th of the season.  In the seventh, Grant Psomas doubled to left-center, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Frank Moore, then broke the tie by scoring on Miller's deep flyball to centerfield.  

Brandon Villafuerte (S, 2) closed the door on the Stars after permitting an infield hit with one out in the ninth.  Scott Nestor (W, 2-4) registered the victory with two shutout innings, while Ben Julianel threw a perfect set-up inning in the eighth.  

The Mudcats, who entered the game in fourth place, moved a game closer to the Stars, closing to within six games with 14 remaining in the second half.   

Carolina made the most of four hits in the game, which evened the season-series 3-3 with four remaining.   

Blake McGinley (6-7) starts the series' second game on Tuesday night at 8:05 PM ET against Derek Miller (5-1) at Joe Davis Stadium.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 4 0 Huntsville 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0