SAL1 Hickory Crawdads

Oh snapped: Hickory eight-game run ends, 2-1

Published on May 21, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release


An eight-game winning streak marked by a prolific offense, solid defense and timely pitching came to a halt for Hickory on Wednesday, as a scoring drought and three errors led to a 2-1 loss to the Columbus Catfish at L.P. Frans Stadium. Averaging 7 runs and 11 hits in their season-high, eight-game roll, Hickory (24-23) mustered just one run on three hits against Columbus (20-26), the first of which didn't come until the fifth inning.

Bobby Spain's one-out single in the fifth ended a no-hitter from Columbus starter Brian Flores, who tamed a Crawdads offense that entered the game second in the league in team batting average and runs scored.

With the hit, Spain extended his hitting streak to 13 straight games, the best active tally in the South Atlantic League.

The way Flores pitched, Columbus' two runs more than served their purpose. After Omar Luna reached on a Jose De Los Santos error to lead off the third inning, the Catfish used a Shawn O'Malley RBI single to take the lead and never look back. Columbus would add a run on a Greg Sexton RBI double in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead.

Hickory's only score came in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Marcus Davis hit a double to drive in Miles Durham, who had doubled himself to lead off the inning. But when Spain grounded a ball deep to the hole at short in the next at-bat, Davis found himself caught a rundown between second and third, eventually getting tagged out and essentially ending the hopes of a Hickory rally.

Flores finished with the win, improving to 4-1 after allowing one hit in six scoreless frames. Reliever Austin Hinkle struck out the side in order in the bottom of the ninth for his second save of the year.

Bradley Clapp took the tough-luck loss for the Crawdads, allowing just two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk in five innings, to drop to 0-4. Hickory has scored just two runs when Clapp has been on the mound in his five starts this season.

The eight-game winning streak finishes as the second-best mark in the South Atlantic League in 2008, falling one victory shy of Charleston and Augusta's nine-game runs.

Columbus was the last team to beat Hickory before the streak began, topping the 'Dads 6-4 on May 12.

The Crawdads look to get back in the win column Thursday night, sending RHP Duke Welker (0-1, 3.60 ERA) to the mound for his fifth start of the year. Columbus will counter with RHP Alex Cobb (6-2, 2.32), who earned the win over Hickory in the aforementioned May 12 game.

Game time is 6:30 p.m. and it will be Dollar Beverage Night at L.P. Frans Stadium. Tickets are available right here on www.hickorycrawdads.com or by calling (828) 322-3000.

GAME NOTES: Game time was 2:27. Attendance was 720. ...Wednesday marked the seventh time this season Hickory scored one or fewer runs. The Crawdads are 2-5 in those games. ... Matt Cavaganaro saw his 10-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-3 night. ...Ronald Uviedo and Moises Robles combined for four scoreless innings in relief. The Crawdads bullpen has a 1.72 ERA in its last 36.2 innings pitched. ...The Lake County Captains swept a doubleheader from the West Virginia Power on Wednesday, meaning Hickory lost 1.5 games in the standings. The 'Dads now sit 6.5 games out of first place with 23 games left to play in the first half of the season.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 21, 2008


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