The Hickory Crawdads scored early and added insurance late to defeat the Asheville Tourists, 6-3. A strong first inning, and three errors on the Tourists led Hickory to the win.

Hickory scored three runs in the first inning. With one out, Keyber Rodriguez singled. He would steal second and third base when Max Acosta reached on a fielder’s choice, which allowed Rodriguez to score. Abimelec Ortiz followed with a home run to right field giving Hickory three runs before Asheville even got to the plate.

The Tourists chipped away with runs in the fourth and fifth innings. But Hickory kept the distance in the eighth inning. With one out, Acosta singled. He would steal second and reached third on a throwing error. Ortiz would hit a sacrifice fly to center field which allowed Acosta to score. Asheville would respond with a run of their own in the home half of the inning.

Hickory sealed the contest in the next inning. In the ninth inning with two away, Daniel Mateo hit his fifth home run of the season. Frainyer Chavez singled and moved to second on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt. Alejandro Osuna singled on a bunt and Chavez would score. Osuna made it to second on a throwing error by the catcher.

Acosta scored twice and had an RBI. Ortiz went two-of-three batting with a run scored and three RBI.

Both teams are 26-34 on the season. The Crawdads are scheduled to face Asheville on the road every day through Sunday this week.