'Dads Drop Close Game to RiverDogs

Hickory, NC- The Crawdads and RiverDogs's bats came alive on Friday night, scoring a combined 15 runs, but the 'Dads ultimately fell 8-7.

The RiverDogs got off to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first but the 'Dads quickly erased the lead. Third baseman Justin Jacobs sent a ball high over the right field fence in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game up at 1.
The RiverDogs retook the lead in the second, scoring two more runs to make the score 3-1.
The Crawdads battled back in the bottom of the second, picking up a pair of runs. Right fielder Tyler Ratliff led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a double by catcher Yohel Pozo. Designated hitter Sam Huff hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Ratliff to tag up and score. They tied the game up on a single up the middle by shortstop Yonny Hernandez that brought in Pozo.
The 'Dads broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth with a double by Huff that scored first baseman Tyreque Reed.
The RiverDogs evened the score back up in the fifth inning, scoring a run off AJ Alexy. Alexy, coming out of the bullpen for the second time this season, threw 3.2 innings in relief for the 'Dads. The RiverDogs scored four unearned runs off Alexy in the eighth to give them an 8-4 lead.
The 'Dads made up some ground in the bottom of the inning on a three-run homerun by Ratliff, his third of the season.
Tomorrow evening the ZOOperstars! will be making an appearance at the Frans thanks to Brown and Neuwirth, Whitfields Flowers and More, and Big Dawg 92.1. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Crawdads hat courtesy of Sam's Xpress Carwash. The 'Dads will give the ball to right hander Derek Heffel (0-0, 6.75 ERA) for his first start with the team. He will face the RiverDog's righty Alexander Vargas (2-0, 3.77 ERA) in a 6pm start.