(Story by Noah Adcock-Howeth,
HICKORY, N.C. – The Augusta GreenJackets had a man in scoring position in every inning from the fourth through the eighth, but pushed just one run across after the first, as the Crawdads chipped away late for a 4-3 win to end the series on Sunday.
Augusta’s best offensive inning was right off the bat in the first, where singles from Owen Carey, Eric Hartman, and Isaiah Drake pushed Augusta up 2-0 before Luis Arestigueta threw a pitch. It’s the second game this year where the GreenJackets have scored in the first inning, and they are now 0-2 in those games.
The multi-run lead lasted less than an inning, as the Crawdads tagged Arestigueta for a two-out run of their own in the bottom of the first. Rafe Perich singled, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a base hit from Jesus Lopez to put Hickory on the board.
The Jackets and Crawdads cobbled a run apiece in the 4th, with Luis Sanchez’s double play bringing one home in the top, and Lopez’s solo homer answering in the bottom half. The top half began a series of disappointing innings for Augusta, as they had the bases loaded and nobody out, but managed one run from a double play and strikeout.
While Augusta failed to crack through against the Hickory bullpen, leaving eight men aboard from the 4th to the eighth, the Crawdads did just enough in the sixth to take the lead from Samuel Mejia. A walk and double from Lopez and Wady Mendez put the plan in place, and a two-out single from Chandler Pollard scored them both.
The one-run lead would prove to be enough, as Ismael Agreda came on for the seventh and worked around a single and two walks to hold Augusta at bay and earn his first save since 2022. Mejia and Reibyn Corona did not allow hits to Hickory in either of their last two chances, but the damage was done.
With the weeklong series officially concluded, Augusta returns home Tuesday for a six-game series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The week at SRP Park will include Augusta Azaleas Weekend and the exciting on-field debut of the new alternate uniforms. First pitch of Tuesday’s game is at 11:05 a.m., as SRP Park holds its first Education Day. Hickory will now head to Charleston, playing the RiverDogs for the first time.
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