Crawdads Walk-It-Off in 12th, Reach 14 in a Row
Hickory, NC- The Crawdads proved victorious over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers on Friday night after Josh Owens scored the winning run in the 12th inning to give the ‘Dads a 3-2 win and their 14th in a row. Pitching dominated this contest, as the two clubs combined for just twelve hits
Hickory, NC- The Crawdads proved victorious over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers on Friday night after Josh Owens scored the winning run in the 12th inning to give the ‘Dads a 3-2 win and their 14th in a row.
Pitching dominated this contest, as the two clubs combined for just twelve hits on the night.
For Hickory, Moises Morales made his final start of the regular season and did not disappoint the 2,024 fans on Friday night. The right-hander tossed five innings of one-run baseball, giving up five hits while striking out seven Fayetteville batters.
As good as Morales was, the bullpen shined once more, as four relievers pitched seven hitless frames to keep the game deadlocked throughout the contest.
The only run the bullpen allowed was the inherited runner in the tenth that gave Fayetteville (71-57,39-24) the 2-1 advantage.
The pitching for Fayetteville was equally good on the night, as Jesus Carrera was outstanding for the Woodpeckers.
The Fayetteville right-hander tossed six innings of one-run baseball on five hits and four punchouts.
The only blemish for Carrera came off the bat of Seong-Jun Kim, who hit his first Carolina League homer in the fifth, tying the game at 1-1.
Carrera and Leomar Rosario stymied the Crawdads, as Hickory managed only six hits through regulation.
Geury Rodriguez was the difference in the late innings for Hickory (81-47, 47-17), as the southpaw threw two scoreless frames to give the Llamas a couple chances to walk it off on Friday night.
The ‘Dads would finally breakthrough in the twelfth, as Jay McQueen was intentionally walked after Kolby Branch sacrificed inherited runner Josh Owens to third to open the frame.
With runners at the corners, Kaden Carpenter hit a bounding ball near the first base bag that was gloved by first baseman Ben Tryon.
Tryon's attempted throw to begin a double play sailed wide of the second base bag, allowing Owens to score, as Carpenter was tracked down some two-hundred and fifty feet from home plate to celebrate the club's fourteenth consecutive win.
The win for Hickory puts them just one off the all-time consecutive win streak of fifteen, a feat that occurred for the 2023 Crawdads, en route to a South Atlantic League playoff appearance.
Geury Rodriguez (6-3) claimed the win for the Crawdads, while Tazwell Butler (2-1) suffered the setback for Fayetteville, who have dropped the first four games of the series.
Tomorrow, Jacob Johnson gets the ball for Hickory at the Frans against the Woodpeckers. First pitch time is set for 7pm on Saturday.