Sand Gnats 5, Crawdads 2

RHP Eric Beaulac (6-5) tossed 5.2 innings of one-hit baseball and the bullpen continued its dominance as the Sand Gnats secured a, 5-2, win over the Hickory Crawdads on Saturday night. The Troy, N.Y. product fanned seven for the second straight start and has now struck out at least five batters in each of his last six outings.

Beaulac didn’t allow a hit until the sixth when Eric Fry singled with two away to break up his no-hit bid. The Crawdads (47-44) had just one other hit the rest of the way as Manny Olivares and Rhiner Cruz worked 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to extend the scoreless streak for the bullpen to 18 innings. Cruz also notched his 18th save in as many opportunities the process.

The Georgia boys jumped on the scoreboard first in the first when Wilmer Flores delivered the first of three two-out singles to drive in a run off starting pitcher Wilfredo Boscan (4-5). After Sean Ratliff walked, Eric Campbell and Josh Satin each singled and drove in a run to make the Gnats lead, 3-0.

Savannah (12-11, 47-46) added a run in the third when Jordan Abruzzo scored on an error by Cristian Santana on Ratliff’s single to left. They also added one more in the seventh to help secure the three-run win.

Youngsters led the Sand Gnats offense with Flores and 18-year-old Jefry Marte each going 2-for-4. The Gnats had seven of their starting nine record at least one hit in the victory. Rafael Fernandez returned from a two-week stint on the disabled list and went 0-for-5 in his first game action since June 28.