Crawdads Escape 9th Inning with 7-6 Win
Published on May 10, 2016 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
Hickory Crawdads on the Mound
(Hickory Crawdads)
Charleston, SC - The Hickory Crawdads broke open a tie game with a big rally in the top of the 9th inning before desperately clinging to the lead in the bottom of the frame Tuesday afternoon, as the 'Dads ended the day with the tying and winning runs in scoring position to escape with a 7-6 win over the Charleston RiverDogs at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.
The 'Dads and 'Dogs entered the final frame carrying a 3-3 tie since the 5th. The Crawdads split the tie and took a seemingly safe lead when they got to Charleston reliever Jose Mesa for 4 runs on 3 hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout wild pitch to take a 7-3 lead. The RiverDogs refused to go down quietly in the home half of the 9th though, as they struck for 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks to bring the score to 7-6 with the tying run on third base and the potential winning tally at second.
Hickory was finally able to escape the frame and end the game when Jeffrey Springs struck out Chris Gittens looking at the plate to preserve the Crawdads 7-6 victory.
The win also gave the 'Dads the series win over the 'Dogs 3 games to 1, while improving the club's South Atlantic League-best record to 22-10.
Prior to the 9th inning drama, the Crawdads put together an early 3-0 lead with two runs in the 3rd and one in the 4th. Yeyson Yrizarri started the rally in the 3rd with an infield single followed by a steal of second base, before he came in to score on a fielding error by Charleston third baseman Thairo Estrada. Andy Ibanez reached on the same error, and came home two batters later on an RBI base knock to left by Tyler Sanchez that put Hickory ahead 2-0.
The 'Dads lead grew the 3-0 the next frame when Ti'Quan Forbes reached on a double to right and came in three batters later on an RBI groundout from Yrizarri. That looked to be enough support for Crawdads starter Pedro Payano, who shutout the RiverDogs over the first 4 innings on two hits. The 'Dogs got to the Hickory hurler in the 5th however, plating 3 runs on 4 hits to chase Payano from the game and tie the score at 3-3.
The contest remained deadlocked from there, with 'Dads relievers Joe Palumbo and John Werner combining to keep Charleston off the board in the 6th, 7th, and 8th. That set the stage for the chaotic 9th.
Frandy De La Rosa got things started when he reached on a one-out, infield single. Forbes followed with a hard ground ball to short that took a dramatic hop, ricocheted off of shortstop Kyle Holder's face, and careened into left field allowing De La Rosa to go to third and Forbes to reach first base safely. Following the lucky bounce, Chris Garia came through with a pinch hit, RBI groundout that gave Hickory a 4-3 lead.
From there Darius Day walked and Yrizarri reached on a strikeout wild pitch to load the bases for Eric Jenkins, who followed with an RBI walk that pushed the 'Dads advantage to 5-3. Ibanez then capped the big inning with a 2-RBI single to left to make the score 7-3.
Charleston went right to work dismantling Hickory's lead in the bottom on the 9th however, with a single by Holder and a walk to Kendall Coleman followed one out later with a walk from Audie Afenir to load the bases. Ninth place batter Leonardo Molina then delivered a 2-RBI single to left that cut the score to 7-5 and ran Werner from the game.
Springs entered and struck out his first batter before allowing an RBI double to Hoy Jun Park that made the score 7-6 and put the tying and go-ahead runs at third and second base respectively with two outs. With the game on the line, Springs was finally able to squelch the rally with a caught-looking strikeout of Gittens for a 7-6 Hickory victory.
Werner (1-1) earned the win with 3 runs allowed on 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts over 1 inning pitched, while Springs (2) earned the save for recording the final two outs. Mesa (0-2) took the loss after giving up 4 runs on 2 hits, 3 walks, and 5 Ks over 1.2 IP.
Both Forbes (3-5, 2B, 2 R) and Yrizarri (3-6, RBI, 2 R) finished with 3-hit games, while Ibanez went 1-4 with 2 RBI, 2 walks, and a run scored.
The Crawdads (22-10) now have an off day on Wednesday before returning home to Hickory for a 4-game series against the Rome Braves beginning Thursday night at 6:00 pm at L.P. Frans Stadium.
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