Power rally for ninth straight win

Kenneth Holmberg hit West Virginia's first home run in 10 days as the Power extended their winning streak to nine games with an 8-5 victory over the Hickory Crawdads on Sunday.

West Virginia (11-3) survived a 4-for-4 day by Jamie Romak and remained atop the South Atlantic League Northern Division.

Holmberg went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. He delivered an RBI double in a six-run sixth inning that put the Power on top for good, 7-5. The 24-year-old second baseman capped the scoring in the eighth with a solo shot, West Virginia's first roundtripper since Jimmy Mojica connected against Lakewood on April 12.

John Alonso and Michael Brantley also drove in two runs apiece for West Virginia.

J.T. King (1-0) made his season debut and picked up the win with three scoreless innings in relief of ineffective starter Roque Mercedes. E.J. Shanks worked around a hit in the ninth for his second save.

Jared Hughes (1-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits in five-plus innings. After retiring 15 of the previous 17 hitters, he surrendered three consecutive singles to open the sixth.

Romak lined an RBI single in the first inning and plated another run with a double in the third. He doubled again in the fifth and stroked an opposite-field single in the seventh.

The 21-year-old Canadian raised his batting average to .326 and has a .418 on-base percentage and 13 RBIs through 14 games.

Wanell Macia contributed three hits, including a double, and scored a run for Hickory (7-7).