Hickory, NC- The Crawdads returned home for the first time since May 8th on Tuesday night, claiming a 6-3 win over Kannapolis at LP Frans Stadium.
With the Crawdads down early in the first, Hector Osorio launched his 11th homer of the campaign over the wall in right field to tie the game at 2-2.
With Hickory trailing 3-2 in the third, Angel Arredondo was plunked by a Truman Pauley pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Yolfran Castillo and knotting the game at 3-3.
Alejandro Chiquillo, the starting pitcher for Hickory, was relieved in the fourth by Louis Marinaro with runners on first and second base.
And Marinaro went to work!
After a pop-up in foul territory to first baseman Marcos Torres, the Ballers were unable to put a ball in play against the left-hander for the remainder of his outing.
Marinaro retired the final five batters he faced via the strikeout, setting a dominant pace for a Crawdads relief corps that retired 12 straight batters over four innings.
Jake Jekielek and Michael Trausch continued the dominant stretch, each tossing a perfect frame heading into the eighth.
The Crawdads' offense came to life in the middle innings, scoring two runs in the fifth and a single run in the sixth to push ahead to a 6-3 lead.
The game was delayed by rain in the eighth with Hickory still holding that same 6-3 margin.
Paulino Santana reached base four times with a pair of hits and an RBI, while Curley Martha collected his first hits and RBI of the season in tonight's contest.
After a 90-minute rain delay, Geury Rodriguez got the ball for Hickory (29-21) in the eighth, tossing two scoreless frames to earn his first save of the campaign.
Marinaro claimed the win for the Crawdads, upping his mark to 2-1 on the year.
Anthony Patterson suffered the loss for Kannapolis (26-26), dropping his record to 1-2 on the season.
The series continues tomorrow at 7pm as Moises Morales takes the mound for the Crawdads.