news-record.com

GREENSBORO -- Tom Hickman capped a four-run comeback in the final two innings when he ripped an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to lead Greensboro to a 6-5 win over the Greenville Drive on Tropical Jersey Night at NewBridge Bank Park on Thursday night.

The Hoppers entered the ninth inning down by a run but proceeded to load the bases on a double and two walks. Matt Dominguez tied the game with a bases-loaded walk.

But the next two batters swung early in the count and ended up grounding weakly to the infield. That brought up Hickman, who already had two doubles and a triple in the game.

"I think his power has always been there," manager Edwin Rodriguez said of Hickman. "He has an easy, effortless swing. The ball jumps off his bat. But sometimes he gets caught up in pulling the ball instead of using the whole field. When you see a guy hitting .220 or .230, chances are his mind is into pulling the ball. I've seen him hitting balls out of the park to the left side. He should be more consistent doing that but that will come with time."

Hickman came into the game batting .227 but 31 of his 70 hits went for extra-bases. After his four-hit night, Hickman's average stands at .236 for the season.

Greensboro's left fielder also played a key role in the team's two runs scored in the eighth inning, which cut the deficit to a single run. Hickman hit an RBI triple and later scored on Tyler Belcher's single.

The Hoppers got on the board when Mike Stanton hit his 34th home run of the season in the sixth inning. With 10 games remaining in the season, Stanton is just six home runs shy of the all-time single season mark for homers in the South Atlantic League, set by Russell Branyan of the Columbus Red Stixx in 1996.

"I think he has a very good chance," said Rodriguez of Stanton breaking the record." We've been talking to him about it. He says he's not thinking about it and is still approaching at-bats the same way, using a gap-to-gap approach. Hopefully he can keep doing it and stay out of trouble."

The late-inning heroics made a winner out of Adam Campbell (1-1), who threw two scoreless innings and lowered his ERA to 11.57 for the season.

The comeback win capped off a festive night for the Hoppers, who raised $3,000 for Habitat for Humanity by auctioning off the tropical jerseys worn by the team. Not surprisingly, Stanton's jersey fetched the largest amount, bringing in $400.

"The Grasshoppers organization has done an outstanding job year after year of supporting charities and tonight was a great night," said Rodriguez, whose jersey went for $125.

GREENVILLE GREENSBORO

E--Belcher (7). DP--Greenville 1, Greensboro 1. LOB--Greenville 5, Greensboro 11. 2B--Tejada (17), Vasquez (10), Penprase (4), Stanley (14), Martinez (11), Hickman 2 (18), Curry (25). 3B--Hickman (2). HR--Stanton (34). SB--Tejada (10), Cabreja (1).

WP--McClain, Gunter.

Umpires--Home, Gipson. Base, Underwood.

T--2:58. A--6,548.