Lobus Leads Llamas to 4-0 Shutout

Hickory, NC- Ryan Lobus spun seven shutout innings on Wednesday and Sebastian Walcott added an early power surge for the Llamas de Hickory in a 4-0 win over Greenville at LP Frans Stadium.

The quality start for Lobus became the longest effort for a Hickory pitcher this season, surpassing Mitch Bratt's pair of six-inning starts in April and May. Lobus allowed three hits and a walk while striking out four Greenville hitters.

Walcott hit his fourth homer of the year in the first inning, a two-run blast off Greenville starter Blake Wehunt to give Lobus a 2-0 advantage. Walcott's multi-hit game led a seven-hit attack for the Llamas.

The Llamas would extend the lead in the fifth, as Anthony Gutierrez doubled and stole third to bring Quincy Scott to the plate with an RBI opportunity. Scott cashed it in with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Gutierrez, growing the Llamas lead to 3-0.

Ben Blackwell would ice the game for Hickory (22-31), singling through a drawn-in infield that scored Gutierrez a second time, giving the Llamas their final margin of victory.

Wehunt was saddled with the loss in his High-A debut, sending Greenville (21-32) a full game back of Hickory in the South Atlantic League's South Division standings.

Tomorrow, Bratt takes the bump for the Crawdads against Greenville at 7pm. Crawdads Pregame begins at 6:45pm on the Bally Live app, MiLB.TV and hickorycrawdads.com.