Crawdads Rally Falls Short in 4-3 Loss to Asheville

Hickory, NC- The Crawdads opened up a six-game set against the Asheville Tourists with a 4-3 loss on Tuesday night at LP Frans Stadium.

The Crawdads grabbed their first lead of the game when Anthony Gutierrez singled home Tucker Mitchell in the bottom half of the third inning to claim a 2-1 advantage for Crawdads starter Brock Porter.

A three-run fourth inning prompted manager Chad Comer to call on Skylar Hales to close out the frame, striking out Luis Baez. Hales would work in tandem with DJ McCarthy to anchor a sensational bullpen effort. The duo pitched 5.2 innings, striking out seven Tourists' hitters, scattering just two hits in that span.

The bullpen opened the door for the 'Dads to rally in the eighth, as Ben Blackwell doubled to right-center, scoring Mitchell for a second time to close the gap to 4-3. The rally would be stymied on the double as Asheville cut down Gutierrez at the plate to maintain the lead.

Gutierrez, Mitchell and Blackwell led the Crawdads with multi-hit efforts. Daniel Mateo contributed a sac-fly in the second that scored Blackwell to level the game at 1-1 after two innings.

In the contest, the Crawdads swiped a season-high five bases, including a pair from Blackwell. The swipes for Blackwell ties him with Gutierrez for the team lead in steals with five on the year.

Tomorrow, the Crawdads look to even the series with Asheville as Mitch Bratt gets the ball at 6pm. Crawdads pregame begins at 5:45pm at www.hickorycrawdads.com, MiLB.TV and the Bally Live App. It is Locals Night and the first Kids Win Wednesday by Arby’s of the season.