The Hickory Crawdads were one strike away from forcing extra innings Friday night, but the Charleston RiverDogs pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to escape with a 2-1 victory at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.

Despite the loss, Hickory received another outstanding effort from its pitching staff and carried a scoreless game into the third inning before Charleston scratched across the game’s first run.

Right-hander Aidan Deakins turned in one of his best starts of the season for the Crawdads. The Texas Rangers prospect allowed just one hit and one run over five innings while striking out six and walking two. Deakins threw 72 pitches and lowered his ERA to 1.82.

Michael Trausch followed with a strong inning of relief, allowing two hits while striking out two. Willy Villar kept the game within reach over the next two innings before being charged with the loss after Charleston’s walk-off rally in the ninth. Luimy Munoz entered in the final frame and was tagged with an inherited runner scoring. Hickory pitchers combined for nine strikeouts and surrendered only six hits.

The Crawdads’ offense was limited to three hits, but they made the most of their final opportunity in the ninth inning.

With Hickory trailing 1-0 entering the final frame, shortstop Yolfran Castillo opened the inning with a single and eventually came around to score the tying run. The rally briefly appeared destined to send the game to extra innings.

Castillo, Paulino Santana and Angel Arredondo accounted for Hickory’s three hits. Arredondo delivered the club’s lone extra-base hit with his ninth double of the season. Santana also drew a walk as the Crawdads managed to keep pressure on Charleston despite the low-scoring affair.

Charleston answered in the bottom of the ninth. After putting the winning run in scoring position, the RiverDogs delivered a game-ending hit with one out, handing Hickory its second consecutive one-run loss in the series. The RiverDogs improved to 36-25 while the Crawdads fell to 31-28.

The defeat overshadowed another strong early inning pitching performance by Hickory. The Crawdads will look to try and win their first game in the series when the clubs continue their six-game set Saturday night at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.