SAL1 Greenville Drive

Sand Gnats Swarm Drive, 12-2, to Snap Win Streak

Published on May 29, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - Looking to extend their win streak to five games, the Drive (26-25) instead saw it snapped in a big way Tuesday night at Fluor Field. The Savannah Sand Gnats (31-20) pounded 19 hits, en route to a 12-2 victory in the second meeting of the three-game series.

Greenville starting pitcher Madison Younginer (1-5) bended but didn't break in the first two innings, giving up a few hits but ultimately keeping the Sand Gnats scoreless, despite loaded bases by Savannah in the second inning. Through three innings it was a defensive struggle, as neither team could light up the scoreboard.

Greenville was first to wipe the dust off the scoreboard, when in the fourth Lucas Leblanc got on base with a single, followed by an RBI-double by Blake Swihart, which put the Drive up 1-0, extending the 20-year-old backstop's hit streak to seven games.

Youginer was still holding on to a shutout heading into the fifth, where Savannah scored two quick runs. With Savannah up 2-1 and two runners on base, the Drive went with right hander Justin Erasmus.

Shortly after the substitution, Savannah's Charley Thurber knocked one out the park with two runners on base, extending their lead to 5-1 over Greenville. Boss Moanaoroa extended his hit streak to twelve games with a double in the fifth inning with Cecchini already on base. Henry Ramos then brought in an RBI, closing the Drive's gap to three runs.

With two outs and a runner on second, the Drive couldn't close the deficit any further that inning, but headed into the sixth with a little momentum, nonetheless down 5-2. The Drive had Savannah right where they wanted them, with two outs in the sixth inning, when the Sand Gnats hit another home run off Erasmus, extending their lead to 7-2. The Drive didn't get anything going on offense, and headed into the seventh inning still down by five runs.

To start the seventh, the Drive made another pitching change and went with Tyler Lockwood. The right-hander helped weather the storm by holding Savannah to a scoreless inning. Moanaroa gave the fans a little more to cheer about when he hit a double down the right field line, his third hit of the night. However, his efforts still amounted to no runs scored in the seventh.

The poor pitching didn't improve in the eighth inning, as Lockwood followed up his colleague's struggles by giving up another bomb, this time to Travis Taijeron, stretching the Sand Gnat lead to 10-2. For the game's final inning, the Drive went with yet another pitcher, this time it was Tyler Wilson. History repeated itself for Greenville, as it gave up two unearned runs in the ninth, adding insult to injury. The Drive approached the plate for a final time at the bottom of the ninth, and came up empty.

The Drive and Sand Gnats close out their series on Wednesday, with first pitch set for 7:05 PM. Left-hander Mickey Pena (4-2, 2.09 ERA) will head to the mound for Greenville in the rubber match, while Savannah counters with right-hander Tyler Pill (3-1, 1.93 ERA).

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 29, 2012


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