Connor Sadzeck scattered four hits over five innings and picked up his 11th win of the season as Hickory defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats 4-1 on Friday night at Grayson Stadium.
Sadzeck, an 11th-round pick of the Texas Rangers in the 2011 First Year Player Draft, did not allow a run while lowering his earned run average to 2.31.
Savannah (67-46) lost for just the sixth time in its last 20 games.
Hickory, which evened the four-game set at a game apiece, took a 4-0 lead after six innings and relievers Tyler Smith and Sam Wolff made the advantage stand up. Wolff recorded the final four outs to notch his second save.
Savannah’s Steven Metz allowed only one run in five innings while striking out nine, but he took the loss and fell to 4-5.
The Crawdads grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Nomar Mazara’s one-out single drove in Jorge Alfaro.
Hickory added three runs in the sixth inning off Gnats’ reliever Tyler Vanderheiden. Mazara’s single, the third straight hit of the inning for the Crawdads, drove in the first run. Nick Urbanus walked with the bases loaded to bring in the second run and Chris Garia’s groundout brought in the third run of the inning to make it 4-0.
Savannah scored its lone run in the eighth inning when Brian Harrison singled to drive in Eudy Pina, who led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Harrison’s two-out hit was a rarity for the Gnats on Friday. They were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 14 on base.
Savannah and Hickory continue their series tonight at 7:05.
Hickory ab r h bi Savannah ab r h bi
Garia dh 3 0 1 1 Rivero 2b 5 0 1 0
Brinson cf 5 0 0 0 Nimmo cf 5 0 2 0
Williams lf 4 0 0 0 DeLaCruz dh 4 0 1 0
Gallo 3b 4 1 2 0 Zapata 1b 5 0 0 0
Alfaro c 4 2 3 0 Pina rf 2 1 1 0
Mazara rf 4 1 2 2 Pron lf 5 0 0 0
Torres 1b 3 0 0 0 Reynolds 3b 3 0 0 0
Marte ss 4 0 0 0 Glenn c 1 0 0 0
Urbanus 2b 3 0 1 1 Ponce ss 1 0 0 0
Harrison 3b 2 0 1 1
Totals 34 4 9 4 Totals 33 1 6 1
Hickory 000 103 000 – 4
Savannah 000 000 010 – 1
E—Pron. LOB—Hickory 7, Savannah 14. 2B—Gallo, Alfaro, Pina. SAC—Garia. SB—Garia, Nimmo. CS—Garia.
Hickory IP H R ER BB SO
Sadzeck W,11-4 5 4 0 0 4 1
Smith 2 2/3 0 1 1 2 2
Wolff S,2 1 1/3 2 0 0 1 3
Savannah IP H R ER BB SO
Metz L,4-5 5 6 1 1 0 9
Vndrheidn 1 3 3 3 1 0
Carnevale 3 0 0 0 0 4
WP—Sadzeck 3. HBP—Garia (by Metz), Torres (by Vanderheiden), Ponce (by Sadzeck), Pina (by Smith). T—3:09. A—1,793.