Hippies Hang Tough but Fall in the End

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Hippies took the field on Thursday night in front of a rowdy Thirsty Thursday crowd at McCormick Field. Asheville fell behind the Hickory Crawdads before they battled back to tie the game late. Hickory converted a ninth-inning Home Run and held on for a 5-3 win over Asheville.

Nic Swanson pitched 5.2 innings, his longest outing with Asheville this season, and surrendered only one earned run. Swanson kept Asheville within striking distance despite not receiving any hits in offensive support over the game’s first five frames.

The Crawdads took advantage of a two-out error in the top of the sixth and belted a two-run Home Run that extended the lead to 3-0. The Hippies responded in the bottom half with a Zach Cole double and a Miguel Palma RBI single.

Asheville tied the game 3-3 in the seventh inning when Austin Deming plated Tommy Sacco Jr. with an RBI groundout and Kobe Kato raced home on a throwing error. The game remained tied until two-outs in the top of the ninth when Hickory hit their go-ahead two-run Home Run.

The Hippies brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth; however, Asheville was unable to extend the contest. Palma finished with two-hits and Cole notched his 30th stolen base of the season.