HobbsDailyReport.com
UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, noon: Greensboro
Thursday, 7:05 p.m.: at Columbia, S.C.
Friday, 7:05 p.m.: at Columbia, S.C.
Saturday, 7:05 p.m.: at Columbia, S.C.
Sunday, 5:05 p.m.: at Columbia, S.C.
HICKORY – The Hickory Crawdads finish a series with Greensboro at noon on Wednesday, heading into the South Atlantic League (SAL) baseball game tied for first place.
The Crawdads beat the Grasshoppers 4-1 in the first seven-inning game of a doubleheader at L.P. Frans Stadium on Tuesday then Greensboro won 4-1 in a seven-inning nightcap to leave the SAL Northern Division race still tight.
PELHAM
Hickory (52-63, 25-20) is tied with Hagerstown (Md.), 24-19 after the Suns swept a doubleheader over Delmarva (Md.) on Tuesday, with Greensboro (60-51, 23-20) and West Virginia (24-21) each a game back of the co-leaders.
West Virginia defeated Lakewood (N.J.) 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Crawdads 4, Grasshoppers 1: The Crawdads got solid pitching by starter Reiver Sanmartin (2-0) and reliever C.D. Pelham to win the first game.
Sanmartin went five innings, giving up eight hits, an unearned run and walked one and struck out two to gain a win. Pelham, getting Greensboro 1-2-3 in the sixth and seventh innings, picked up his seventh save.
Alex Kowalczyk went 3-for-3 with two doubles and drove in two runs to lead Hickory. Andretty Cordero added two hits, and Yohel Pozo and Charles Leblanc each drove in a run.
James Nelson and Jared Barnes each had two hits for the Grasshoppers, who scored their only run in the fourth inning.
Hickory used a throwing error and hit by Kowalczyk for a first-inning run and stretched its lead to 4-0 with three runs in the third inning, all with two outs. Cordero singled, Kowalczyk doubled him in, Pozo doubled in a run and Leblanc’s single scored another run.
Brandon Miller (0-2) took the loss for Greensboro, going three innings. He gave up six hits, four runs (three earned), walked none and struck out one.
DUVAL
Grasshoppers 4, Crawdads 1: Max Duval pitched a complete game, holding Hickory to two hits, as Greensboro won the nightcap.
Duval, who pitched college baseball at Hawaii, gave up an unearned run and was backed by seven hits by the Grasshoppers.
Greensboro went up 1-0 in the fifth inning when Eric Gutierrez walked with the bases loaded. He hit a three-run home run in the seventh, his fifth of the season, to make it 4-0.
The Crawdads scored in their final at-bat when Leody Taveras doubled and Kowalczyk singled to score Taveras.
Reid Anderson (1-9) suffered the loss for Hickory after going 4 1/3 innings. He gave up three hits, a run (earned), walked four and struck out three.
Upcoming games: After Wednesday’s noon game, the Crawdads begin a road trip on Thursday in Columbia, S.C. They will play games there through Sunday.
After taking Monday off, Hickory comes home to start a three-game series with Hagerstown on Tuesday.
Click on the links below for Tuesday’s boxscores.
Game 1
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_08_08_gboafx_hicafx_1&t=g_log&sid=t448
Game 2
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_08_08_gboafx_hicafx_2&t=g_box&sid=t448