HICKORY, N.C. (Interstat) — Deward Tovar homered and drove in three runs as the Hickory Crawdads defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds 7-2 on Saturday at L.P. Frans Stadium.

Tovar went 2 for 4, hitting a three-run homer in the eighth inning that broke open the game. Paulino Santana also had two RBIs. Brandon Jaenke earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief, while Brayan Orrantia took the loss after allowing three earned runs in five innings. Tovar’s homer was his 16th of the season. Jaenke improved to 1-0, and Orrantia fell to 1-8.

Hickory plated three runs in the fourth, one in the sixth and three in the eighth. Delmarva scored single runs in the fourth and sixth. Both teams finished with eight hits, and Delmarva grounded into two double plays.

The Crawdads improved to 72-47, while the Shorebirds dropped to 44-76. Attendance was 3,188 and the game time was 2:49.