Despite a strong start by right hander Josh Stephan, the Hickory Crawdads lost 1-0 to the Rome Braves, their twelfth consecutive defeat.

Stephan delivered another excellent performance on the mound for the ‘Dads. He pitched six innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out seven. Stephan threw 54 of his 82 pitches for strikes.

Aidan Anderson entered in the seventh and gave up a solo homerun, the only run the Crawdads allowed Friday night. He allowed a double in the eighth but escaped the jam to turn the ball over to Robby Ahlstrom for the final inning. Ahlstrom walked one but did not allow a hit.

Offensively, the Crawdads bats were quiet, managing just three hits. Jayce Easley drew the ‘Dads lone walk in the eighth inning, in a call that was initially called a strike and was overturned after an appeal to the umpires by manager Chad Comer, allowing Easley to take his base. A called strike three to end the inning, rose tempers from the Crawdads even more, leading to Comer arguing with the field umpire and drawing an ejection.