Moller Leads Dads to Victory
Hickory, NC- Ian Moller's two-run double in the seventh inning propelled the Hickory Crawdads to a 5-3 win against Aberdeen on Tuesday evening at LP Frans Stadium. Moller's double broke a 3-3 tie with his second hit of the night against Trey Gibson, scoring Malcolm Moore and Anthony Gutierrez. Moller's
Hickory, NC- Ian Moller's two-run double in the seventh inning propelled the Hickory Crawdads to a 5-3 win against Aberdeen on Tuesday evening at LP Frans Stadium.
Moller's double broke a 3-3 tie with his second hit of the night against Trey Gibson, scoring Malcolm Moore and Anthony Gutierrez. Moller's two-hit night was one of three Crawdads' players with multi-hit performances. Sebastian Walcott and Gutierrez matched Moller's night with a pair of safeties, leading a nine hit attack.
Aidan Curry picked up the win in relief, his second of the season. Curry pitched three innings for the Crawdads, as the New York right hander surrendered two hits to the IronBirds.
Bryan Magdaleno closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning to claim a save in his first appearance with the Crawdads afterbeing promoted from Down East.
The Crawdads, despite winning, dropped a half-game in the standings with Bowling Green sweeping Asheville tonight in a doubleheader. Bowling Green leads Greenville by two games in the SAL second half standings, with Hickory (20-17, 48-55) four games back in third.
Aberdeen (19-18, 53-50) hit a trio of homers on the night, as Elio Prado, Tavian Josenberger and Carter Young hit solo shots.
The Crawdads have now won six of their last eight games, securing a series win against Asheville in the process.
Other items of note:
-Ian Moller's two-hit performance extends a 22-game stretch in which the catcher from Iowa has reached base. In that stretch, he has hit at a .286 clip, while drawing 19 walks in that same span.
-It was a night of firsts for the Rangers organization in Hickory, as 1st round pick Malcolm Moore and 2nd round pick Dylan Dreiling made their full season debut for the 'Dads. Moore, from Stanford University, was the DH tonight, while Dreiling, CWS MVP (Tennessee) started in left field.
-Speaking of debuts, Paul Bonzagni made quite the first impression for Hickory tonight, as the former Saluki from Southern Illinois pitched five solid innings, allowing a pair of runs on four hits en route to a five strikeout night.
The Crawdads will continue their series tomorrow at 7pm against Aberdeen, as Alejandro Rosario takes the mound against the Iron Birds. The Crawdads Pregame Show will begin at 6:45pm on MiLB.TV, the Bally Live app and hickorycrawdads.com.