Friday Fireworks: Hickory Wins 9-0
The Crawdads won the game and the three-game series in large part to a balanced offensive attack, spearheaded by third baseman Bobby Spain.
While eight of Hickory's nine batters had hits on the night and all nine reached base in one way, Spain stole the show with a 3-for-3 night, including four RBIs and his first home run of the season.
Spain's night was his fourth multi-hit game in his last six starts and his first three-hit game of the season, but he wasn't alone in offensive production.
Jose De Los Santos extended his team-high hitting streak to 13 games with a second-inning single.
Erik Huber went 2-5 with two runs and RBI, while catcher Ronald Pena took advantage of his first start of the series by going 2-4 with a run and two driven in.
Miles Durham also had two hits for Hickory (11-11), and Tom Hagan and Keanon Simon each scored twice to help lead Hickory to its second shutout of the season.
Augusta (11-11) could get nothing going against Hickory's pitchers, beginning with starter Dionis Rodriguez.
Rodriguez (1-0) earned his first win of the season, holding the GreenJackets to just four hits and no walks with two strikeouts in five innings.
Crawdads relievers Michael Felix and Moises Robles then combined to allow just four hits in four innings to ensure the blanking.
Hickory jumped ahead early with three runs in the third inning and four in the fourth, putting the game's result beyond reasonable doubt in the early going.
Augusta starter T.J. Brewer (1-2) took the loss, charged with six runs in two innings.
Friday's 9-0 margin marked the second-biggest win for Hickory this season, eclipsed only by the Crawdads' 14-1 win over Kannapolis on April 12.
Hickory now embarks on a seven-game road trip, beginning with a three-game series at Greenville.
First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Probable starters are RHP Ryan Colvin (1-0, 5.84 ERA) for Greenville and LHP Zac Oliver (0-0, 0.00), making his debut for Hickory.
Make sure to not miss any of the road action by listening to the game on WMNC 92.1 FM or right here on HickoryCrawdads.com.
GAME NOTES: Game time was 2:42. Attendance was 2,189. ...Bobby Spain raised his average from .220 to .264 with his 3-for-3 performance. ...Augusta committed five errors on the night, and has committed an error in 18 straight games. ...Hickory's 13 hits fell two shy of the Crawdads season-high (15 - 4/12 @ Kannapolis).