Morrison's Five Hits Lead Crawdads to 9-6 Win
Published on July 14, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
HICKORY, N.C. - 3B Erik Morrison went a perfect 5-for-5 with a solo home run and three runs scored to help lead the Hickory Crawdads to the 9-6 victory against the Charleston RiverDogs before 3,098 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park on Tuesday evening.
The RiverDogs (8-11, 47-42) got on the board first with an early run against RHP Joe Wieland in the bottom of the second inning. 3B Garrison Lassiter reached on a one-out walk and moved to second on a single by DH Addison Maruszak. LF Taylor Grote then came through with a sharp grounder through the right side of the infield to bring in Lassiter and put Charleston into the 1-0 lead.
The Crawdads (11-7, 44-43) came right back with an unearned run against RHP David Phelps (9-3) in the top of the third inning to tie the game. SS Leury Garcia bunted his way on with one away and moved to second on a ground out, before stealing third base. With two outs, 2B Mike Hollander grounded a ball to third base, which led to a throwing error charged to Lassiter and enabled Garcia to score, making it 1-1.
After Charleston struck for a run in the bottom of the third, the Crawdads responded with three in the top of the fourth to move in front, 4-2. RF Eric Fry sparked the rally with a one-out walk and was followed by consecutive singles by LF Cristian Santana and 1B Jared Bolden, who registered an RBI on his base hit. After Santana scored on a wild pitch to put the Crawdads in a one-run lead, Garcia bounced into a fielder's choice on a ball hit back to the mound, brining in Bolden from third and putting Hickory ahead, 4-2.
Charleston again cut the lead to one with a run in the bottom of the fourth, before the Crawdads came right back with two tallies in the top of the sixth to stretch the lead to 6-3. Morrison led off the inning with his third single of the game, before trotting home on the two-run bomb hit by C Doug Hogan over the left field wall.
The RiverDogs refused to let the lead grow too much, scoring twice in LHP Yoon Hee Nam's (8-1) first inning of work in the fifth. However, Nam settled in after his first frame and dealt three subsequent scoreless innings through the eighth, while the Crawdads bats continued to strike against Charleston's staff.
Morrison led off the seventh with a solo home run, adding to his team leading total of 13 on the season, to make it 7-5. Hickory struck for two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, when Hollander and Morrison led off the inning with consecutive singles. After a pair of strikeouts dealt by RHP Cory Arbiso, RF Eric Fry and LF Cristian Santana came through with back-to-back two-out RBI base hits, scoring Hollander and Morrison, respectively and putting the Crawdads up, 9-5, heading to the bottom of the ninth.
RHP Matt Nevarez took over on the mound, and despite allowing one run in the frame, closed out the 9-6 win for the Crawdads with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts. Nam added to his team-high total of eight wins with the victory tonight for the Crawdads, while Phelps was tagged with the loss for Charleston.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 14, 2009
- Shorebirds Take Second Straight from Legends, 7-3 - Lexington Legends
- Suns Set On Drive, Fall Late 5-4 - Greenville Drive
- Suns Win 5-4 - Hagerstown Suns
- Morrison's Five Hits Lead Crawdads to 9-6 Win - Hickory Crawdads
- Morrison Shines as Crawdads Pinch RiverDogs, 9-6 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Augusta Wins Second Straight, 9-1 - Augusta GreenJackets
- Grossman's On Base Streak Ended in Power Loss - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Hot Rods Drive Past BlueClaws - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Braves Win in Dramatic Fashion - Rome Emperors
- Sand Gnats Conquer Colon with Sixth Inning Magic - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Nicasio and Asheville Deliver Another Shutout - Asheville Tourists
- Quentin, Colon Not Enough in 2-0 Loss to Savannah - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- One Fan to be Honored as 'Sun for a Day' - Hagerstown Suns
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