Hickory Edges Drive, 1-0, on Friday

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Greenville Drive and the Hickory Crawdads saw their respective pitching staffs duel on Friday night at Fluor Field, but ultimately the Crawdads claimed the win, 1-0, to take the 2-0 lead in the series.
Both starting pitchers were in control from the outset. Drive starter Brayan Bello faced the minimum through two outs in the sixth and would see just three above the minimum for his 7.0 innings of work. Hickory starter Cole Winn retired the first nine batters he faced in order and went on to face just two above the minimum through his 5.0 innings of work.
Hickory managed the lone run in the game, coming in the sixth. With two outs and no one on, Frainyer Chavez doubled to left and Jax Biggers followed with a single to right to score Chavez and put the Crawdads ahead, 1-0.

The Drive threatened in the fourth and seventh innings but both opportunities slipped away. In the fourth, a lead-off walk to Everlouis Lozada and a one-out single by Triston Casas put runners at the corners with one out. Winn wriggled out of it with back-to-back strikeouts to keep the game scoreless at the time.
In the seventh, Kole Cottam tripled to right to lead off the inning, but a groundout and two strikeouts left him stranded.
Winn earned the win to improve to 3-4 on the year, while Bello was the tough-luck loser, falling to 5-8 on the season. Hickory reliever Lucas Jacobsen earned his second save of the year, recording a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Angel Padron kept the Drive within reach in the late innings, throwing a scoreless eighth and ninth inning. He allowed two hits and issued a pair of walks with one strikeout.
The series continues on Saturday with first pitch at 7:05 PM. Drive right-hander Alex Scherff takes the hill against Hickory right-hander Tyree Thompson.