Greensboro loses finale, splits series in Hickory

HICKORY ― Trevor Hauver drew a bases-loaded walk on a 3-2 pitch from Eddy Yean in the eighth inning to drive in the go-ahead run as the Hickory Crawdads rallied for a 10-7 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at L.P. Frans Stadium on Sunday night.

The Hoppers blew a 6-1 lead and settled for a series split in Hickory. Greensboro (31-43 overall) is 4-5 in the second half of the South Atlantic League season.

Hickory won the game with four unearned runs in the eighth inning, when Hoppers shortstop Dariel Lopez made two fielding errors.

Ernny Ordonez went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and an RBI single to lead the Hoppers offense. Endy Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a walk, a solo home run and two RBIs.

Abrahan Gutierrez, Jacob Gonzalez, Luke Brown and Lopez all had two hits for the Hoppers, who went just 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Justin Meis made his third consecutive strong start, allowing just one earned run and striking out three in four innings.

CRAWDADS 8, GRASSHOPPERS 0

Larson Kindreich and Jesus Linarez combined to pitch a three-hit shutout in a game shortened to seven innings Saturday night because of lightning strikes.

Jacob Gonzalez went 1-for-2 with a walk for the Hoppers. Dariel Lopez and Jackson Glenn hit singles to account for the rest of Greensboro’s hits.

Jared Jones (2-4) took the loss, allowing six earned runs on six hits in 4⅔ innings.

NOTES

• Outfielder Fabricio Macias was promoted to Class-AA Altoona on Saturday. Macias, who played for the Hoppers in 2019 and 2021, was originally sent back to Greensboro on an injury rehab assignment May 31. He went 24-for-90 (.267) with three doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs in 24 games with the Hoppers.
• Shortstop Dariel Lopez has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games, going 28-for-82 (.341) with five home runs, four doubles, 15 RBIs and 18 runs scored. He has nine multi-hit games in that span.
• Catcher Endy Rodriguez hit his eighth home run of the season Sunday. He has hit safely in 19 of his last 23 games, going 22-for-64 (.344) with eight doubles, two home runs, 13 RBIs and 11 runs scored. The versatile 22-year-old is rated by MLB Pipeline as Pittsburgh's No. 7 prospect, and he has played four positions ― catcher, first base, second base and left field ― this season.
• First baseman Jacob Gonzalez went 3-for-6 on the weekend, and he has reached base in 16 of his last 17 games. Since his promotion from Class-A Bradenton on May 10, Gonzalez has reached base in 33 of 39 games, with 12 multi-hit games. Gonzalez is 45-for-147 (.306) with seven doubles, a triple, five home runs and 20 RBIs.
• Utility player Ernny Ordoñez hit his 11th home run of the season Sunday. Since June 1 he has hit safely in 13 of 19 games, with eight home runs, four doubles and 24 RBIs in that span.
• After two disastrous starts following his promotion, right-hander Justin Meis (1-2) has allowed just one run in his last 15 innings of work, lowering his ERA from 108.00 to 5.74. Meis earned his promotion by going 3-4 with a 3.51 ERA in 10 games for the Bradenton Marauders of the Class-A Florida State League, striking out 42 in 41 innings of work.