The Hickory Crawdads watched a four-run lead disappear Thursday night as the Augusta GreenJackets scored seven unanswered runs over the final four innings to claim a 7-5 victory at SRP Park.

The loss was Hickory’s third straight and dropped the Crawdads to 46-36 overall and 12-6 in the second half, allowing Augusta (48-36, 13-5) to move into sole possession of first place in the Carolina League South Division second-half standings.

The Crawdads appeared firmly in control after scoring five unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings behind another strong outing from starter Jesus Lafalaise.

After Augusta grabbed a 1-0 lead on Matt Scannell’s solo home run in the second inning, Hickory responded with a three-run fourth despite collecting just one hit in the frame.

Yolfran Castillo walked, stole second and later scored when Daniel Flames drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Marcos Torres followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Pablo Guerrero before Deward Tovar lined a two-out RBI single to center, giving Hickory a 3-1 advantage.

The Crawdads extended the lead in the fifth. Marco Argudin opened the inning with a walk and scored on Guerrero’s RBI single. Flames added another run with a groundout that brought home Castillo, pushing the advantage to 5-1.

Lafalaise carried that cushion through five innings, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out a career-high nine. The right-hander walked one and retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced before exiting after 84 pitches.

Augusta’s comeback began with two outs in the sixth against reliever Jormy Nivar.

Alex Lodise doubled before Cody Miller delivered an RBI single. Michael Martinez followed with a two-run single to cut the deficit to one, and Cooper McMurray added an RBI single after Michael Trausch entered in relief to tie the game at 5-5.

The GreenJackets completed the comeback an inning later. After Trausch issued two walks, Scannell battled through an eight-pitch at-bat before lining a two-run double off the left-field wall to score Conor Essenburg and Miller, giving Augusta its first lead since the second inning.

Augusta’s bullpen made the lead stand. Kade Woods, Cristobal Abreu and Lewis Sifontes combined for 4 2/3 hitless innings, allowing only three walks while striking out six. Hickory did not record a hit after Guerrero’s RBI single in the fifth inning.

Tovar led the Crawdads offensively, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk. Guerrero went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk, while Santana, Arredondo and Castillo each added a hit or reached base multiple times. Flames drove in two runs despite going hitless.

Scannell paced Augusta by finishing 3-for-4 with a home run, double, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Trausch (5-3) was charged with the loss after allowing two runs in one inning of relief. Augusta reliever Cristobal Abreu earned the victory, and Lewis Sifontes picked up the save.

The teams continue their six-game series Friday night at SRP Park.