Osuna Goes Ozone, Crawdads Cruise 12-1

Hickory, NC- Alejandro Osuna smashed two home runs on Saturday evening, including a seventh-inning grand slam, as the Hickory Crawdads extended their win streak to five games with a 12-1 thumping of the Greenville Drive at LP Frans Stadium.

Osuna's first homer was a leadoff shot against Greenville starter Jedixson Paez, giving Hickory an early 1-0 advantage. The Catawba County Clout was his sixth of the year and was the first act in a very productive day for the outfielder from Mexico.

Winston Santos was equally impressive for the 'Dads, tossing six innings, striking out eight hitters en route to the no-decision. His lone blemish on the day resulted in a solo homer for Greenville catcher Enderso Lira. The home run in the sixth tied the score at 1-1, forcing the Crawdads bullpen to keep the Drive off the scoreboard.

Eventual winning pitcher, Michael Brewer, pitched a scoreless seventh, sending the game to the stretch tied at 1-1.

In the seventh, the Crawdads batted 10 men in the frame with Osuna highlighting a seven-run outburst, stroking a grand slam to left-center field, his club-leading seventh of the season. Osuna finished the day driving home five runs, giving him 16 RBI for 2024.

Sebastian Walcott would be in a slugging mood one batter later, as he left the yard for his fifth dinger of the campaign. The opposite field homer was the third for the Crawdads, running their season total to 32.

A four-run eighth would close out the scoring for Hickory (25-31), as the Crawdads gathered nine hits on the evening.

Tomorrow, Aidan Curry will take the bump, as the Crawdads will go into the game with a chance to sweep Greenville (21-35) in the finale of the six-game set. First pitch is set for 2pm, with Crawdads pregame airing at 1:45pm on MiLB.TV, the Bally Live app and hickorycrawdads.com.