Wild 8th Inning Lifts 'Dads to 4-3 Win

Salisbury, MD - For the second straight game the Hickory Crawdads utilized a late rally for a come-from-behind win, as the 'Dads scored three runs in the 8^th to rally for a 4-3 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds Saturday night at Arthur W. Purdue Stadium.

 One night after the Crawdads came away with a 4-1 win over the Shorebirds thanks to a 3-run 9^th inning, the 'Dads overcame a 3-1 deficit with a three run outburst in the 8^th to lead to their 4-3 victory. The win assures Hickory of at least a split in their final series of the year while also moving the Crawdads overall record this season to 79-58, tied for the most wins in the 'Dads six years as a Texas Rangers affiliate.

The Crawdads decisive 8^th inning rally began with some help from Delmarva reliever Luc Rennie, who walked both Marcus Greene and Luis Marte on nine total pitches to put the tying runs on base for the 'Dads with no outs. Nick Urbanus followed for Hickory and laid down a sacrifice bunt off of new Shorebirds pitcher Garrett Cortright to try to move the runners over. Instead of taking the out at first 'Birds catcher Tanner Murphy threw to third in an attempt to get the lead runner, but his throw sailed into Delmarva's bullpen down the left field line and allowed Greene to come home to draw the score to 3-2. Evan Van Hoosier followed with a game-tying RBI single to left before Ronald Guzman gave the Crawdads the lead with a RBI sacrifice fly to make the score 4-3.

Delmarva attempted a comeback of their own with a pair of two-out singles off of Crawdads reliever Anyelo Leclerc in the bottom of the 9^th, but Leclerc settled down and got pinch hitter Creede Simpson to line out to second to end the game with the 'Dads 4-3 win.

Second baseman Travis Demeritte led the Hickory offense with a 2-4 game including a double and a run scored, while Jairo Beras also finished the night 2-4 with a double. Marte didn't record a hit in the win, but finished with a RBI, walk, and a run scored.

'Dads reliever Ryne Slack (9-2) earned the win after tossing three scoreless innings on two hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. Cortright (1-3) was the hard-luck loser for the 'Birds with one run allowed on two hits, wile Leclerc (4) picked up the save after closing out the game.

The Crawdads (37-30) will try to secure a series win in game three of their four-game set against the Shorebirds (27-41) Sunday night at 5:05 pm.

 

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