HICKORY, N.C. (WHKY) – The Hickory Crawdads used a four-run fifth inning and back-to-back home runs in the sixth to pull away for a 7-4 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds Thursday night at L.P. Frans Stadium.

Hickory (68-46) collected eight hits in the win, including three home runs, while Evan Siary turned in seven strong innings on the mound to earn his sixth victory of the season.

Delmarva struck first when Ty Head led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to right field. Hickory answered in the bottom of the inning. Seong-Jun Kim singled with two outs and advanced on a throwing error before Josh Owens delivered an RBI single to center to tie the game at 1-1.

The Shorebirds regained the lead in the fifth. Jemone Nuel doubled with one out and scored on Adriander Mejía’s two-out double, giving Delmarva a 2-1 advantage.

Hickory responded immediately with its biggest inning of the night.

Pablo Guerrero drew a one-out walk and Yolfran Castillo followed with his 25th double of the season, putting runners at second and third. After a flyout, Deward Tovar came through with a two-out, two-run single to right, scoring Guerrero and Castillo to put the Crawdads ahead 3-2.

Josh Springer then provided the biggest swing of the inning, launching his first home run of the season to left field. The two-run shot scored Tovar and extended Hickory’s lead to 5-2.

The Crawdads added two more runs in the sixth, again using the long ball. With two outs, Paulino Santana hit his 14th home run of the season, a solo shot to left. Guerrero followed immediately with his seventh homer, sending a drive to right-center for back-to-back home runs and a 7-2 Hickory advantage.

Siary (6-3) made the lead stand up. The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings, did not issue a walk and struck out three. He threw 79 pitches, 59 for strikes, and retired Delmarva in order in each of his final two innings.

The Shorebirds made things interesting against the Hickory bullpen in the eighth.

Keiber Armas walked Jhomnardo Reyes and Carlos Sanchez to begin the inning. After a wild pitch, balk and another walk loaded the bases, Eric Booth Jr. brought home Reyes with a sacrifice fly. Another wild pitch and walk followed before Frank Martinez entered with the bases loaded.

Martinez walked Stiven Martinez to force home another run, cutting Hickory’s lead to 7-4, but escaped further damage when Jimmy Anderson lined out to right field.

Frank Martinez returned for the ninth and worked around a two-out single to earn his third save. He allowed one hit and one walk over 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Springer led Hickory offensively, going 2-for-3 with a home run, walk, two RBIs and a run scored. Tovar drove in two runs, while Santana and Guerrero each homered and drove in a run. Owens also had an RBI as the Crawdads went 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

All seven Hickory runs were driven in with two outs.

Connor Gehr (0-1) took the loss for Delmarva, allowing seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. Harrison Kreiling held Hickory hitless through 3 1/3 innings but walked four and struck out five before leaving in the fourth.

The Shorebirds finished with six hits and went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Head’s fourth-inning homer accounted for Delmarva’s only run against Siary until Mejía’s RBI double in the fifth.

The win improved Hickory to 68-46 overall and 34-16 on the second half of the season, while Delmarva fell to 42-75. The game was played in two hours, 20 minutes before 1,695 fans at L.P. Frans Stadium.