Catfish Lose 20th 1-Run Game

The Catfish lost their 20th 1-run game of the season tonight, spoiling the first of a 12-game road trip. The Hickory Crawdads (Pirates) beat the Catfish 3-2 by scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Both our players, Dan Batz and Lucas May were hitless tonight, although Luke did reach base and made it to third base, but did not score. The Catfish were held to six hits overall, three by leadoff man Jamie Hoffman.

More from the Columbus Catfish:

Two Catfish Eighth Inning Errors Lead to 3-2 Hickory Win
CF Jamie Hoffmann Goes 3-4 with Two Triples in Catfish Loss

HICKORY, NC—The Hickory Crawdads scored an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning on two Columbus Catfish errors to beat the Fish 3-2 in the opener of a four-game series in Hickory, NC.  RHP Steve Nelson took the loss for Columbus, committing one of the two Catfish errors in the 8th frame.  CF Jamie Hoffmann tripled twice tonight in the Fish loss, finishing 3-4 with a run scored.  Hoffmann now has 99 hits in 79 games this season and leads the South Atlantic League with nine triples.  The Catfish fall under the .500 mark in the second half with a 5-6 record, while the Crawdads are a league-best 8-3 in the second half.

The Fish took an early lead in the third inning on SS Dominique Laurin's first HR of the season, a solo shot against Hickory RHP Kyle Pearson to give the Fish a 1-0 lead.  Hickory stranded four runners on in the first two innings but scored twice in the third inning against Catfish LHP Scott Elbert to make it 2-1 Crawdads.  Hoffmann's first triple in the sixth inning and a Hickory error tied the game at two.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Nelson struck out Hickory C Neil Walker with the bases loaded to preserve the Catfish lead.  In the top of the eighth inning, Hoffmann again led off with a triple but could not score.  In the bottom of the eighth, Hickory LF A.J. Johnson singled to center and advanced to third with nobody out on an errant pick off throw from Nelson.  Nelson retired the next two batters without a run scoring, but a 2B Travis Denker fielding error with two outs gave Hickory a 3-2 lead.  RHP Matt Capps pitched a scoreless ninth for the save in the 3-2 Hickory win.

Tomorrow RHP Blake Johnson (6-3, 2.90 ERA) starts for Columbus at 7:00 PM at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, NC.  The game can be heard live on WDAK 540 AM in Columbus and on www.columbuscatfish.com