SAL1 Greenville Drive

Grasshoppers Cruise to 9-2 Win over Drive

Published on May 8, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - Aided by a pair of big innings early in the game, the Greensboro Grasshoppers (18-14) hopped their way to a 9-2 victory over the Greenville Drive (17-13) on Thursday night at Fluor Field.

The Drive took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to RBI doubles by Carlos Asuaje and Wendell Rijo, but the Grasshoppers quickly reversed that with a three-run second and a four-run third against Drive starter Ty Buttrey (0-2). A wild pitch tied the game at two in the second, and RBI groundouts for Rehiner Cordova and Yefri Perez gave Greensboro a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

An RBI single by Carlos Lopez pushed the Greensboro lead to 5-2 in the fourth, and Chad Wallach followed with a two-run triple to right. Cody Keefer capped the scoring against Buttrey with a sacrifice fly to plate Wallach.

The Drive turned to Raynel Velette in relief with two outs in the third, and he delivered three and one-third shutout innings, giving up just one hit and striking out four.

Grasshoppers starter Ryan Newell (3-3) got the win by limiting the Drive to two runs despite giving up eight hits.

An Avery Romero RBI single against Greenville's John Ely in the top of the seventh made the score 9-2.

Rijo went 3-4 with an RBI to lead the Drive offense in defeat. Jesus Loya and Jordan Weems chipped in with two hits each. Lopez, Romero, Wallach and Felix Munoz all picked up a pair of hits for Greensboro.

The rubber game of the series begins at 7:05 on Friday night. The Drive will send LH Trey Ball (1-1, 5.40) to the mound, while the Grasshoppers will counter with RH Domingo German (2-1, 2.51).

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 8, 2014


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