Gnats Stand Tall as They Sweep the Crawdads

The Hickory Crawdads completed their eight game road trip throught the Low Country Friday night as they lost to the Savannah Sand Gnats 12-4 at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, GA. Savannah scored 10 runs in the first three innings against Crawdads starter Duke Welker (3-9) en route to the win. The win completed a sweep for the Sand Gnats, their second sweep of the season, while the sweep was the 3rd four game series in the last four that the Crawdads have been swept.

Friday night was tough all around for the 'Dads, as along with the twelve runs they gave up 15 hits, threw five wild pitches and committed four errors in the game. On offense, Hickory managed only six hits on the night, three by RF Keanon Simon.

Savannah jumped on Welker early in the first inning with four runs. Greg Veloz led off the inning with a single to center. Veloz stole second and moved to third on a single by Francisco Pena. Welker loaded the bases by walking Sean McCraw, then surrendered a 2 run double to Nicholas Giarraputo followed by a 2 run single to Jeffries Tatford to complete the four run outburst.

The Sand Gnats added a run in the second as Joaquin Rodriguez led off with a single and advanced to second as CF Austin McClune bobbled the ball. Rodriguez moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Veloz.

The game was blown open in the third inning as Savannah plated five more runs to open a 10-0 lead. The Sand Gnats loaded the bases on a pair of singles by McCraw and Giarraputo and a walk to Tattford. Welker issued a second straight walk in the inning, this time to Carlos Guzman to bring home McCraw. The merry-go-round continued as Darren Clark and Rodriguez each singled in a run. After a strike out, Craig reached on a fielding error by SS Jordy Mercer, which allowed Guzman to score. The scoring fest concluded as Francisco Pena scored Clark with a sacrifice fly.

Hickory scored a run in the 4th on a sacrifice fly by McClune, and twice more in the 5th as the Crawdads, In that inning, the 'Dads took advantage of an error by Clark after Simon had singled to score Aeden McQueary , who walked to lead off the inning. Simon later scored on a ground out for the second run.

Savannah added a run in the 5th as Rodriguez doubled and scored on a pair of wild pitches thrown by Crawdads reliever Victor Igsemna. They also scored an unearned run in the sixth, as Tattford reached on a two base error by 1B Erik Huber and scored on a single by Guzman.

Keanon Simon brought in the final run of the night for Hickory in the 9th with his third hit of the night, scoring McQueary.

For Savannah, Mark Cahoon, the New York Mets 12th round draft pick in the 2008 draft, picked up his first win (1-0) in his second start after his promotion from Kingsport of the Appalachian League. Cahoon allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits. He also walked three and struck out two on the night. Hickory now returns home to L.P. Frans Stadium for a four game series against the Rome Braves. A reminder that the game begins at 6pm with Matthew West performing in concert following the game. Reserved level and grandstand seats only are available at the box office or at www.hickorycrawdads.com. The game is broadcast live on 92.1 FM WMNC and at hickorycrawdads.com with Mike Janela providing the play by play.