HICKORY, N.C. (Interstat) — The Hickory Crawdads defeated the Hill City Howlers 12-4 on Saturday at L.P. Frans Stadium before 2,311 fans. Hickory improved to 42-30, while Hill City dropped to 31-43.

Hickory scored two in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the sixth, three in the seventh and three in the eighth. Hill City tallied one in the second, two in the third and one in the fifth. Both teams had 16 hits.

Geury Rodriguez (4-2) earned the win with two innings of relief, allowing one earned run on three hits with two strikeouts. Aaron Savary (1-3) took the loss.

Yeiferth Castillo led Hill City, going 4-for-5 with a triple, a home run and two RBIs. Juneiker Caceres homered and drove in two. Riley Nelson went 4-for-5.

For Hickory, Daniel Flames went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Marco Argudin doubled and drove in a run. Yolfran Castillo drove in two. Ryan DeSanto pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief for Hill City, allowing one earned run on three hits with five strikeouts. Hickory’s Aidan Deakins struck out five over four innings, allowing three earned runs. Louis Marinaro and Michael Trausch combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings.