LYNCHBURG, Va. (Interstat) — Hickory Crawdads scored five runs in the eighth inning to beat the Hill City Howlers 6-4 on Thursday at Bank of the James Stadium. The Crawdads improved to 14-4, while the Howlers fell to 10-8.

Trailing 3-1, Hickory tied the game on Yolfran Castillo’s RBI single. Deward Tovar then delivered a grand slam to right field, putting the Crawdads ahead 6-3. Tovar finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Hill City had taken a 3-0 lead in the first on Robert Arias’ RBI single and Anthony Martinez’s two-run homer. Arias homered in the ninth for the final margin.

Jormy Nivar (2-0) earned the win with five shutout innings of two-hit relief. Wily Villar notched his first save despite allowing a run in the ninth. Jervis Alfaro (2-1) took the loss. Hickory outhit Hill City 8-6. A crowd of 2,014 attended the 2-hour, 6-minute game. The Crawdads lead the series two games to one heading into Friday’s matchup.