On the first of May, Salem Avalanche left-hander Brian Bogusevic was 1-3 with a 4.94 ERA.

In two outings, he's evened his record and dropped his ERA by more than 1.5 points.

Bogusevic pitched the Avalanche's first complete game of the season, as Salem (17-17) scored a 2-1 victory on a bases-loaded hit batsmen in the bottom of the seventh inning in the opening game of a Carolina League doubleheader against Wilmington at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

But not even homers by Josh Flores and Billy Hart could overcome the Avalanche's pitching struggles in a 6-2 loss in the nightcap.

In the second game, the Blue Rocks scored with two outs in the second, third and fourth innings, with all six runs coming against spot starter Rory Shortell.

Kila Ka'aihue belted a two-run home run in the third inning and Miguel Vega had a two-run double in the fourth for Wilmington (18-18).

Bogusevic, who pitched seven shutout innings allowing one hit and one walk in his last outing, gave up a run in the third inning and no more in Saturday's opener.

"It feels good, obviously, to get a couple in a row," Bogusevic said. "Maybe I can get some momentum.

"I've got five days to figure out what was working."

Pitching coach Larry Pierson has a few ideas.

"He's throwing more quality first-pitch fastballs and he pitched inside effectively," Pierson said. "The last two times out, the things that have been consistent have been he's got a better angle on his fastball and he's throwing his change-up for strikes."

In seven innings, Bogusevic allowed seven hits and a walk.

"It was a tough one," Bogusevic said. "Their starting pitcher did a great job and it was just a case of trying to hold them off long enough for us to get a couple of big hits."

The Blue Rocks had runners aboard in five of the seven innings, a credit, Bogusevic said, to their aggressiveness at the plate.

"They are good fastball hitters and if I fell behind and they were looking for the fastball, they could hit it," Bogusevic said. "It felt like there was pressure in every inning."

Battling pressure, Bogusevic said, let him know "you don't have to be perfect and it can still turn into a good outing."

Wilmington starter Dan Cortes was supplying some of that pressure. Cortes made it through 5²₃ innings without giving up a run, but the instant he was out of the game, Ole Sheldon blasted a homer off reliever Russ Haltiwanger to even the score at 1-1.

"[Sheldon] was battling the whole time. ... I just knew somebody would come through eventually," Bogusevic said.

Salem loaded the bases in the seventh. Iorg worked for a leadoff walk and Ryan Reed tried to move him up with a sacrifice bunt, but first baseman Miguel Vega threw the ball away and the runners ended up on second and third.

"Those are the kind of plays that get overlooked, the good at-bat [by Iorg] and the perfectly executed bunt, but those are the things that win games."

Haltiwanger intentionally walked Wladimir Sutil to load the bases, then hit Eric King with a pitch to force the winning run home.

HOW THEY SCORED

Game 1

Wilmington third: Arce doubled. Duarte reached on a fielder's choice; Arce out at third. Maddox singled; Duarte went to third on the hit and scored on a throwing error by Iorg. Blue Rocks 1, Avalanche 0.

Salem sixth: Two outs. Haltiwanger relieved Cortes. Sheldon homered. Avalanche 1, Blue Rocks 1.

Salem seventh: Iorg walked. Reed sacrifice bunt, but reached safely and went to second on a throwing error by Vega; Iorg to third. Sutil intentionally walked. King hit by a pitch from Haltiwanger; Iorg scored. Avalanche 2, Blue Rocks 1.

Game 2

Wilmington second: One out. Perez singled. Peralta grounded out; Perez to second. Bigler singled; Perez to third. Perez scored on a double steal with Bigler. Blue Rocks 1, Avalanche 0.

Wilmington third: Two outs. Lisson walked. Ka'aihue homered; Lisson scored. Blue Rocks 3, Avalanche 0.

Salem third: Two outs. Flores homered. Blue Rocks 3, Avalanche 1.

Wilmington fourth: Bigler singled and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Balduf. Duarte grounded out; Bigler to third. Maddox hit by a pitch from Shortell. Lisson singled; Bigler scored; Maddox to second. McKeller relieved Shortell. Ka'aihue walked to load the bases. Vega doubled; Maddox scored; Lisson scored. Blue Rocks 6, Avalanche 1.

Salem fifth: One out. Hart homered. Blue Rocks 6, Avs 2.

First Game

WILMINGTON SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Duarte cf 4 1 1 0 Flores cf 3 0 0 0

Maddox 2b 4 0 1 0 Manzella ss 3 0 0 0

Lisson 3b 3 0 1 0 Towles c 3 0 0 0

Kaaihue dh 2 0 0 0 Sheldon 3 1 2 1

Vega 1b 3 0 0 0 Ori 1b 3 0 0 0

Thibault c 3 0 1 0 Iorg rf 2 1 1 0

Peralta rf 3 0 1 0 Reed lf 2 0 0 0

Bigler lf 3 0 1 0 Sutil 3b 2 0 1 0

Arce ss 3 0 1 0 King 2b 1 0 0 1

Totals 28 1 7 0 Totals 22 2 4 2

Wilmington 001 000 0-- 1

Salem 000 001 1-- 2

E--Vega (1), Iorg (2). LOB--Wilmington 7, Salem 4. 2B--Arce (7). HR--Sheldon (4). S--Reed. SB--Sutil (10).

IP H R ER BB SO

Wilmington

Cortes 5 2-3 3 0 0 1 4

Haltiwanger L, 1-3 1-3 1 2 1 2 0

Salem

Bogusevic W, 3-3 7 7 1 1 1 3

HBP--by Haltiwanger (Sutil).

T--1:49.

Second Game

WILMINGTON SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Duarte cf 4 0 1 0 Flores cf 3 1 2 1

Maddox 2b 2 1 1 0 Sutil ss 2 0 1 0

Lisson ss- 3b 3 2 1 1 Sheldon 1b 2 0 2 0

Kaaihue 1b 3 1 2 2 Ori dh 3 0 0 0

Vega dh 4 0 2 1 Einertson lf 3 0 0 0

Perez 3b 4 1 3 0 Rosales rf 3 0 0 0

Arce ss 0 0 0 0 Lopez c 3 0 0 0

Peralta rf 4 0 0 0 Hart 3b 3 1 1 1

Bigler lf 4 1 2 0 King 2b 3 0 0 0

Balduf c 2 0 0 0

Totals 30 6 12 5 Totals 25 2 6 2

Wilmington 012 300 0-- 6

Salem 001 010 0-- 2

LOB--Wilmington 8, Salem 4. DP--Wilmington. 2B--Perez (6); Sheldon (5), Sutil (4). HR--Kaaihue (4); Flores (3), Hart (1). S--Maddox, Balduf; Sutil.

IP H R ER BB SO

Wilmington

Penn 3 2-3 3 1 1 1 4

D'Amico W,2-0 3 1-3 3 1 1 0 3

Salem

Shortell L,1-2 3 2-3 9 6 6 1 2

McKeller 1 1-3 1 0 0 1 4

Gervacio 2 2 0 0 0 4

HBP--by Shortell (Maddox).

T--2:02.

A--5,228.