Hickory blanks RiverDogs

Hickory starter Robbie Ross combined with reliever Braden Tullis on a three-hit shutout, as the Crawdads defeated the RiverDogs, 4-0, in South Atlantic League action Thursday night in front of a crowd of 4,291 fans at Riley Park.

Hickory has taken the first two games of the year and four straight overall in upping its record to 12-10, while Charleston is now 10-12.

Ross (2-3), a second round pick in 2008, worked quickly and kept Charleston off balance over his six innings. The RiverDogs did not collect a base hit until Kyle Higashioka's lead off double in the fifth. Jimmy Paredes and Luke Murton contributed consecutive singles in the sixth to account for the other two hits.

Leury Garcia led off the fourth by tripling to deep left field off Charleston starter Graham Stoneburner (0-3), which was then followed by a two-run home run from Miguel Velazquez on the next pitch for a 2-0 Crawdads lead. Mike Ortiz singled home a run in the sixth increasing the margin to 3-0, while Cristian Santana lengthened the lead to 4-0 in the eighth with a RBI single to center field.

Tullis worked the final three hitless frames with four strikeouts to earn his first save.

The third contest of the four-game series is set for tonight at 7:05, as Charleston sends right-hander Jose Ramirez (1-0, 1.93) to the mound to face fellow righty Wilmer Font (2-0, 4.08) for Hickory.

E--Podraza. DP--RiverDogs 2. LOB--Crawdads 4, RiverDogs 6. 2B--Higashioka. 3B--Garcia, West. HR--Velazquez. SB--Ortiz, Santana, Podraza.

WP--Stonburner, Tatis.

Time--2:20. Att: 4,291.