Savannah Sand Gnats 6 Hickory Crawdads 3

The first game of the four game series between the Savannah Sand Gnats and the Hickory Crawdads was played in front of  2,422 fans Thursday evening at Grayson Stadium. Savannah won the opener 6-3. Sand Gnats had 11 hits for the game and 4 pitchers held Hickory to 5 hits for the game.
Savannah scored 2 runs in the 3rd inning. ssDimas Ponce singled, cfBrandon Nimmo singled, and lfMaikis De La Cruz singled to load the bases. A run scored when 1bCole Frenzel walked. dhEudy Piña singled to drive in a run.
Savannah scored 3 runs in the 5th inning and 1run in the 8th inning.
Hickory scored a run in the 5th inning and 2runs in the 6th inning.
Leading hitter for Savannah was Nimmo who was 3-for-5. Getting 2hits each, De La Cruz,  and Piña
Starting Savannah pitcher, Julian Hilario, (Won, 7-4), pitched 5 innings, allowed 1 run on 3 hits, walked 2 and struck out 4.
Tim Peterson, pitched 2 innings, gave up 1 run on 2 hits, 2 BB, and struck out 3.
Paul Sewald pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning.
Closer, Beck Wheeler, picked up his 15 save, pitched the 9th inning striking out 1 and walking 3 batters.
The second game of the series starts at 7:05 pm Friday at Grayson Stadium.