Preview: Salem RidgeYaks at Hickory Crawdads

HICKORY, N.C. (Interstat) — The Hickory Crawdads will look to extend their early-season dominance and a two-game win streak over the Salem RidgeYaks when the teams meet again Thursday at L.P. Frans Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 83 degrees under cloudy skies.

The Crawdads (9-2), who own the league’s best record, have taken the first two games of this series, including a 5-4 walk-off win Wednesday. They have won seven of their last eight games.

Salem (7-4) will try to halt the slide behind right-hander Dylan Brown (0-0), who makes his first start of the season. The RidgeYaks’ bullpen, a strength this season, could be pivotal. A player to watch for Salem is reliever Myles Patton, who delivered 4 2/3 strong innings of one-run ball in Wednesday’s loss.

Hickory counters with its formidable relief corps. A key player for the Crawdads is right-hander Michael Trausch, who has not allowed a run in 8.0 innings across four appearances this season. He pitched 3.0 perfect innings with two strikeouts against Salem on Wednesday.

The series has been tight, with both games decided by two runs or fewer. In Wednesday’s contest, Salem’s Ilan Fernandez hit a three-run homer, but Hickory’s Paulino Santana answered with a solo shot. Crawdads starter Aidan Deakins allowed just two hits over 4.0 scoreless innings.

According to Interstat, Hickory is projected as a strong favorite with a 60.6% probability to win. The service’s game simulator predicts a 7-5 Crawdads victory.

Following Thursday’s game, the four-game series concludes with contests Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Hickory.