Pitching Propels Crawdads to 3-1 Win
Published on August 22, 2015 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
Greensboro, NC - The Hickory Crawdads rode a superb pitching performance to victory Friday night, as Dillon Tate, Brett Martin, and Scott Williams paved the way for the 'Dads 3-1 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at NewBridge Bank Park.
The 3-headed pitching display saw the Crawdads hold the Grasshoppers to one run on four hits, one walk, and 10 total strikeouts. Tate, the Texas Rangers 1st round pick in the 2015 Draft, began the night with two perfect innings before handing the ball over to the All-Star left-hander Martin, who struck out a career-high 8 batters while giving up one run on four hits over 6 innings pitched. Williams finished it from there by converting his 8th save in as many opportunities with a perfect 9th inning to finish off the 3-1 Hickory victory.
The offense supported the premium pitching effort with three runs on 8 hits, with two runs and four hits coming over the last two innings to carry the Crawdads to the win. The 'Dads took the game's initial lead in the top of the 4th, when Luke Tendler reached on a fielding error by Greensboro starter Enderson Franco that also allowed Tendler to move to second base. Following a groundout by Jairo Beras that moved Tendler to third, Eduard Pinto delivered an RBI sacrifice fly to left to give Hickory a 1-0 advantage.
The Grasshoppers responded in the bottom of the inning, when Brian Schales lined a double inside the third base bag and came in one out later on an RBI single by Arturo Rodriguez to tie the score at 1-1. The game would remain tied until the 8th, when the Crawdads were able to break through against Greensboro reliever Jeff Kinley. Michael De Leon started the frame with a double to left, and came in one out later on an RBI single to right by Carlos Arroyo to put Hickory ahead 2-1. The 'Dads doubled their advantage to 3-1 in the top of the 9th, when Beras lined a solo home run to right for his 6th long ball of the year.
Williams finished the game off from there with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th to complete the Crawdads 3-1 win.
Martin (5-6) earned the win for the 'Dads, while Kinley (0-1) took the loss for the 'Hoppers with two runs given up on four hits and two strikeouts over three innings pitched.
Beras finished the night 2-4 with a solo homer, while De Leon went 1-2 with a double, a walk, and a run scored, and Edwin Garcia ended the game 2-4 with two doubles.
The Crawdads (74-48/30-24) will try to make it back-to-back wins over the Grasshoppers (45-78/16-38) when they meet up in game three of the 4-game series Saturday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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