Walcott & Moore Each Drive in 2 in Loss
Hickory, NC- The Rome Emperors won their third straight game against the Hickory Crawdads by a 10-6 score at LP Frans Stadium on Thursday night. The Crawdads got going early against Rome starter Herick Hernandez, plating a pair of runs on three extra-base hits to take a 2-0 lead after
Hickory, NC- The Rome Emperors won their third straight game against the Hickory Crawdads by a 10-6 score at LP Frans Stadium on Thursday night.
The Crawdads got going early against Rome starter Herick Hernandez, plating a pair of runs on three extra-base hits to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Dylan Dreiling, Malcolm Moore and Arturo Disla collected the doubles in the frame, giving Hickory starter Jose Gonzalez an early advantage.
The lead was short lived, as Drew Compton gave Rome the lead for good in inning three, launching a three-run homer to right field off Gonzalez. The Hickory right-hander making his debut would absorb the loss, going four innings against the South Division's first-half champs.
Drew Compton had a big night for Rome, hitting two homers and driving home six runs. The second round-tripper was an inside-the-park homer that stretched the Rome lead to 6-2 in the fifth inning.
Sebastian Walcott added another multi-hit game to his 2024 ledger, tripling in the sixth and adding a two-run single in the seventh. The single for Walcott in the seventh would bring Hickory back to within a run, trailing 6-5 going into the eighth.
Rome responded, scoring four runs in their final two times at-bat, extending their lead to 10-5.
However, the Crawdads would force Rome to call on William Silva in the ninth, as Hickory had the first four hitters reach to cut the deficit to 10-6 with Walcott stepping to the plate as the potential tying run.
In the end, Silva would strike out Walcott, Moore and Disla to claim his first save of the season for Rome.
Rob Griswold earned the Rome win, moving his record to 2-4 on the year. The win is the sixth straight for the Emperors, as they go over .500 in advance of the SAL South Division playoff series against Bowling Green.
The Crawdads will send Brayan Mendoza to the hill for the final Friday game at the Frans at 7pm. The start for Mendoza will be his Hickory home debut. The Crawdads Pregame Show will begin the night at 6:45pm on MiLB.TV, the Bally Live app and hickorycrawdads.com.