The Hickory Crawdads fell behind early, but would come back to win over the Asheville Tourists, 7-3 on the road Friday night. Despite seven runs and seven hits, only one Crawdad player had a multi-hit night: Angel Aponte who had two hits and two runs scored.

Asheville scored twice in the first inning, but the Crawdads got a run back in the second innings. Tucker Mitchell hit a solo home run to right center field. The bomb was his ninth of the season.

Hickory tied the game up in the third inning. With one out, Cameron Cauley walked. Cody Freeman was then hit by a pitch. A passed ball put both runners in scoring position. Abimelec Ortiz was walked to load the bases. Max Acosta would hit a sacrifice fly to left field, but it was enough to allow Cauley to score.

The Crawdads took over in the fourth inning with a pair of runs. Yosy Galan opened the inning with a single. Aponte followed with a single. A double steal pushed both into scoring position. One out later, and a pitching change by Asheville, a wild pitch allowed Galan to score and Aponte scored on Cauley’s single to center field.

The Tourists responded with a run in the home half of the fifth. But Hickory put the contest away for good in the sixth inning. With one out, Aponte singled then stole second and advanced to third after a throwing error by the catcher. Blackwell drove him in with a fielders choice. Mateo singled and one out later, Mateo stole second. Freeman then reached base on a fielding error, allowing both Blackwell and Mateo to score.

Winston Santos got the win on the mounds. He pitched five innings, and while he allowed nine hits and all three Asheville runs, he also struck out six and allowed only one walk. The relief efforts of Jackson Leath, Jackson Kelley, and Gavin Collyer allowed no hits the rest of the game, and struck out a combined seven while walking only two.

Hickory is 28-11 on the second half of the season. They are 55-45 overall. The Crawdads are in Asheville through Sunday. They will be back at home to take on the Rome Braves starting Tuesday.