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 Greenville Drive

Drive Crush Crawdads, 10-5

September 4, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Hickory, NC - Sparked by Jackie Bradley, Jr.'s first professional home run, the Drive (77-62, 39-30) erased a two-run deficit in the top of the fifth en route to a convincing 10-5 victory over the Hickory Crawdads (79-57, 39-29) Sunday at LP Frans Stadium.

Despite the Savannah Sand Gnats being rained out, the Drive's "Magic Number" is down to one following the Augusta GreenJackets' loss to the Rome Braves. Greenville can clinch a spot on Monday with either one victory during the Sand Gnats doubleheader or a loss by the GreenJackets.

Trailing 4-2 in the top of the fifth, the Drive sent all nine batters to the plate as they collected five runs on six hits. Following a leadoff single by Sean Coyle and a double off the bat of Christian Vazquez, newcomer Travis Shaw roped a one-out, RBI-single. Henry Ramos' double knotted the game before Bradley, Jr. crushed a 3-1 offering from Andy Doyle the opposite way to leftfield for a three-run homer.

After Jacob Skole smacked his second home run of the night in the bottom of the fifth to pull within two runs, the Drive added three insurance runs. Ramos, who finished 4-for-5, tallied an RBI-single in the top of the sixth, while Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez each knocked in a run in the top of the seventh.

Despite surrendering five runs on eight hits, including two homers, right-hander Keith Couch (7-5) picked up the win in his final 2011 regular season start. Justin Erasmus and Charle Rosario combined to hold the Crawdads scoreless over the final four innings, with each reliever hurling 2.0 shutout innings.

Greenville found themselves up 1-0 following the game's first inning of play, but the Crawdads answered with four runs in the bottom of the third, including a three-run blast by Skole, before mounting their comeback.

The Drive and Crawdads closeout the 2011 regular season on Monday, with first pitch set for 1:05 PM. Right-hander Tyler Wilson (4-3, 3.12 ERA) will toe the rubber for Greenville in the finale, while Hickory counters with right-hander Nick Tepesch (7-4, 3.55 ERA).

Aided by a victory by the Savannah Sand Gnats, the Drive's "Magic Number" to clinch a playoff spot is down to 2 (Augusta and Rome were tied 8-8 in the 13th inning at time of sending this out; a GreenJackets loss would lower the "Magic Number" to 1).

Due to Sunday's outcomes and rainouts, the second representative of the Southern Division in the 2011 South Atlantic League playoffs will be determined on the final day of the season. Tickets for the potential playoff games at Fluor Field - September 7, 15-17 - are currently on sale and can be purchased by visiting the Fluor Field Box Office, calling charge-by-phone at (864) 240-4528, or by logging onto www.GreenvilleDrive.com .


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