The Hickory Crawdads fell to the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 5-4 on Thursday. Runs in the final two innings for the Blue Rocks doomed the Crawdads as Hickory drops to 2-2 on the season.

Wilmington jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning off of Crawdads starting pitcher Winston Santos. However, Hickory would respond with three runs in the top of the third inning. With one out, Angel Aponte would double. One out later, Alejandro Osuna was walked on four straight pitches. Max Acosta then came up and knocked the first pitch he saw into right field for a three-run home run and the Crawdads took a 3-2 lead. The Blue Rocks responded with a run in the home half of the third to tie the game at three.

Hickory would reclaim the lead in the fifth inning. Aponte would open up the inning with his second double of the contest. He would tag up to third after Jayce Easley hit a pop fly to right field. The Blue Rocks pitcher then threw a wild pitch, allowing Aponte to score and Hickory led 4-3.

However, single runs in the seventh and eighth inning gave Wilmington the 5-4 win.

Aponte led the Crawdads at the plate with his two doubles and two runs scored.

Hickory will be in Wilmington over the weekend. The Crawdads return to L.P. Frans Stadium on Tuesday.