Crawdads power past Grasshoppers, 5-2
Published on June 6, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
HICKORY, N.C. - The Hickory Crawdads took the opener of a three-game home series, 5-2, against the Greensboro Grasshoppers before 3,589 fans at L.P. Frans Stadium on Saturday night. INF Erik Morrison helped lead the offense with a 2-for-3 game, including a solo home run and an RBI double.
For the second straight game against the Grasshoppers, the Crawdads (27-26) took the game's first lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning. CF Cody Podraza led off the frame by reaching on an error and quickly stole his way to second base. Podraza then moved to third on a ground out, and came in on Morrison's RBI double to left field, putting Hickory ahead, 1-0, against Greensboro RHP Tom Koehler (3-3).
Greensboro (27-27) responded with an unearned run against RHP Jake Brigham in the top of the third to tie the game, 1-1. However, Morrison again lifted Hickory into the lead with his solo shot, his fifth homer of the year, in the bottom half of the inning to make it 2-1.
After the Grasshoppers plated an earned run against Brigham in the fourth, his last inning of work, LF Cristian Santana powered the Crawdads back in front in the bottom of the fourth. 2B Jake Kaase reached on a bunt single to start the inning and trotted around the bases on Santana's two-run blast over the left-center field wall, his first home run of the campaign.
The Crawdads added an insurance run with a two-out rally in the seventh, started by a walk drawn by Morrison and concluded with an RBI single by Kaase, accounting for the 5-2 final score. LHP Martin Perez (2-3) took over on the mound to start the fifth inning and earned the win for the Crawdads, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing just three hits and striking out three, before RHP Matt Nevarez came on and retired the final two batters of the ninth inning to close the game. Koehler was tagged with the loss for the Grasshoppers.
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