Crawdads Claw Past Shorebirds 8-5

Hickory, NC- The Hickory Crawdads used a three-run eighth inning to defeat the Delmarva Shorebirds 8-5 on Sunday afternoon at LP Frans Stadium.

The Crawdads came into the contest seeking a 5-1 week at home against the Baltimore Orioles' affiliate, having won eight of their previous eleven games against the Shorebirds.

The afternoon tilt, played on one of the hottest days this season, was the second longest of 2025, featuring three ties and three lead changes.

The Crawdads overcame deficits of 1-0, 3-1 and 5-4 to claim the win and keep their second-half record perfect in the Carolina League South division.

The critical inning for Hickory (36-32,3-0) came in the eighth, as Erick Alvarez led off the frame with a walk. Marcos Torres followed the walk with a ground-rule double, putting Hickory in position of breaking the 5-5 tie.

Juan Sulbaran, playing in his first game with the ‘Dads, plated Alvarez on a sac-fly, giving Hickory the lead for good at 6-5.

Antonis Macias, who paired with Torres to collect four of the team's eight hits, singled to right, scoring Torres, as the Crawdads increased the lead to 7-5 against eventual losing pitcher Simon Leandro (2-3).

Hickory tallied their final run on a sac-fly by Rafe Perich to close out the scoring at 8-5.

In the ninth, Luke Savage claimed his fifth save of the year, in support of winning pitcher Adrian Rodriguez (1-0), to cap off the successful series against Delmarva (27-42), who opens the second-half losers of three straight in Hickory.

The win for the Crawdads puts them four games over .500 for the first time this season, as the club has won six of their last eight.

Other items of note:

The Crawdads own a 22-14 home record, good for fourth best in the Carolina League behind Lynchburg*, Carolina and Columbia*. (* denotes first-half division winner)

Hickory has played in 35 games that were separated by two runs or less, going 18-17 in those games.

The Crawdads pitching staff became the first Carolina League team to post 700 strikeouts from the mound this year.

After today's action, the Crawdads pitching staff has a .212 average against, which is still the lowest mark in the Carolina League.

Conversely, the Crawdads hitters have struck out the fewest times (564) of any team in the Carolina League, while collecting 317 walks on the year.

The Crawdads' 513 hits put them in a tie with Salem for fourth in the league, followed by Kannapolis (547) and Carolina (514).

Speaking of Salem, the Crawdads travel to Salem to take on the Red Sox Tuesday in the first of a nine-game road trip. The club returns home July 4, against Kannapolis.

Note:

Crawdads field manager Carlos Maldonado will join the Rush Hour Morning Show Tuesday to discuss the team's first half and what's ahead for the team moving into July. The conversation airs at 8am on WGNC am1450 and 101.1fm in Gastonia and streams online at www.wgncradio.com.