Shorebirds Fall to Crawdads in Series Opener
Delmarva Surrenders 12 Unanswered Runs in Defeat
HICKORY, NC: The Delmarva Shorebirds (41-74, 18-31) were defeated by the Hickory Crawdads (67-45, 33-16) on Tuesday, 12-5.
The Shorebirds jumped out to an early lead thanks to Jemone Nuel, who drove home two runs with a single in the first inning to put Delmarva ahead 2-0.
Nuel collected another RBI in the third when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, making it a 3-0 game. An RBI single by Adriander Mejia and a bunt single by Ty Head with the bases loaded extended the Shorebirds' advantage to 5-0.
The Crawdads scored their first run on a two-out RBI single by Daniel Flames in the fourth, cutting Delmarva's lead to 5-1.
Delmarva's lead then vanished in the fifth as the Crawdads scored six times, with Pablo Guerrero (6) hitting a three-run homer and Sebastian Baquera driving in two with a double, their big swings in the inning that gave them their first lead at 7-5.
Hickory added three more runs on a three-run homer by Kaden Carpenter (4) to make it ten unanswered runs and give them a 10-5 lead.
Two more runs scored for the Crawdads in the seventh to make it 12-5.
The Shorebirds' offense went quiet after scoring five runs in the first three innings, manufacturing just four base runners over the final six innings, and would fall to Hickory 12-5.
Geury Rodriguez (5-3) earned the win for Hickory, with Dalton Neuschwander (1-12) taking the loss for Delmarva.
The series continues on Wednesday with Holden deJong taking the mound against Seong-Jun Kim for the Crawdads. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM.