Crawdads Fall, 4-3, in 9th in Greensboro
Published on August 7, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
GREENSBORO, N.C. - 1B Ben Lasater's RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Greensboro Grasshopppers to the 4-3 walk-off win against the Hickory Crawdads, before 8,215 fans at NewBridge Bank Park on Friday night.
The Grasshoppers (14-26, 51-59) struck first in the finale with a run in the top of the first against RHP Jake Brigham. 3B Paul Gran was hit by a pitch to start the inning, then came around from first and scored on an RBI double by 2B Smelin Perez to make it 1-0.
The Crawdads (21-19, 54-55) answered right away with a tally in the top of the second against RHP Sandy Rosario. 3B Matt West hit a one-out double to spark the rally and advanced to third base on a single by the next batter, RF Miguel Alfonzo. DH Eric Fry then grounded an RBI base hit through the right side of the infield to score West from third and tie the game, 1-1.
Hickory then moved ahead with a pair of runs in the top of the third. C Doug Hogan extended the inning with a two-out walk, before 2B Mike Hollander crushed a pitch over the left field wall for his first homer of the season, putting the Crawdads in the 3-1 lead.
Brigham kept the lead intact through his four innings of one-hit work, retiring 12 batters in a row after the early offense by Greensboro in the first inning. LHP Martin Perez took over with a scoreless sixth inning, before giving way to RHP Tyler Tufts.
Tufts tossed a scoreless sixth inning, but Greensboro knocked in two runs in the seventh to tie the game, 3-3. SS Emilio Ontiveros and 3B Paul Gran hit consecutive one-out singles, before both came in on a two-run double by Perez, evening the score.
The Crawdads threatened to take the lead against RHP Bryan Evans with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the ninth inning, but Evans won a battle of an at-bat against Hogan, getting the All-Star catcher to strikeout and end the inning and keep the tie intact.
RHP Matt Nevarez, who took over on the mound for Hickory in the eighth, started the bottom of the ninth by striking out Gran. However, the strikeout pitch was a wild pitch that got by Hogan, enabling Gran to reach safely. Perez advanced Gran to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Lasater ended the game with an RBI double to right-center field, plating Gran and lifting Greensboro to the 4-3 walk-off win. Nevarez was tagged with the loss for the Crawdads, while Evans earned the win for the Grasshoppers.
South Atlantic League Stories from August 7, 2009
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