HICKORY, N.C. (Interstat) — Jose Gutierrez tossed a gem as the Columbia Fireflies defeated the Hickory Crawdads 7-3 on Tuesday at L.P. Frans Stadium. Gutierrez improved to 4-2, and Henson Leal notched his fourth save. Columbia outhit Hickory 10-6.

The Fireflies went ahead 1-0 in the first on Yandel Ricardo’s sacrifice fly. They added two in the fifth on Roni Cabrera’s two-run homer. Sean Gamble’s two-run double and JC Vanek’s RBI single in the eighth made it 6-2, and a sacrifice fly in the ninth capped the scoring.

Hickory got a two-run homer from Paulino Santana in the fourth. Marcos Torres homered and had two hits. Louis Marinaro (2-2) took the loss. The game lasted 2:19 before 1,561.

Columbia improved to 33-31, Hickory to 33-29. The teams meet again Wednesday.