Christensen Powers Tourists Past Riverdogs
Published on April 29, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
(Asheville, NC) - Tourists outfielder David Christensen stepped up to the plate to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning with Asheville trailing by a run. Already with two hits, two runs and an RBI to his credit, Christensen mashed a solo homerun to straightaway center field, tying the game and setting the table for another dramatic Tourists comeback.
Parker Frazier got the call to start this afternoon's affair for Asheville and didn't have his best stuff, going just 4.0 innings. He got into trouble in the top of the second inning after Melky Mesa hit a one-out single. Frazier then hit Garrison Lassater with a pitch to put runners on first and second. After a passed ball advanced the runners, Chase Weems drove them both home with a double, giving Charleston a 2-0 lead. Walter Ibarra got a base hit and a throwing error on Tyler Massey allowed the runners to advance to second and third when Ray Kruml drove them home with a single up the middle, making the score 4-0 Riverdogs.
The Tourists answered back in the bottom of the inning when Kiel Roling led things off with a walk. A fielder's choice erased Roling from the basepaths, but replaced him with the quicker Tyler Massey. Massey took advantage of his speed when David Christensen drove his first hit of the day for a double into the gap in right-center and Massey came around to score. Ryan Peisel followed with a base hit into right field, putting runners on the corners for Beau Seabury, who hit a sacrifice fly to drive Christensen home, cutting the Charleston lead to 4-2.
Frazier retired the side in order in the top of the third and Asheville took the lead in the bottom of the inning. Thomas Field led off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. He advanced to third base on a flyout by Delta Cleary and came in to score on a groundout by Patrick Rose. With the bases empty and two away, Jimmy Cesario flared a base hit into left field, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Kiel Roling followed with a mammoth homerun, a two-run shot to right-center field that seemed to scrape the sky on its way out. The bomb gave the Tourists a 5-4 lead heading to the fourth.
The Riverdogs tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fourth on a one-out double by Weems and an RBI single off the bat of Walter Ibarra. Asheville stormed right back in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff single by David Christensen. Ryan Peisel drew a walk and Beau Seabury laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. The bunt was fielded by Weems, but he threw wide of first, allowing Christensen to score and putting runners on first and third. Thomas Field hit an RBI single, scoring Peisel to give the Tourists a 7-5 lead. Delta Cleary brought Seabury home with a sacrifice fly to make the score 8-5 Asheville.
Charleston scraped across another run in the top of the fifth off reliever Jonnathan Aristil by way of a solo homerun from Melky Mesa. Mesa leads the South Atlantic League with five homeruns this season, this one bringing the Riverdogs to within 8-6. Asheville again answered back in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own on an RBI single by Tyler Massey to make it 9-6 Tourists.
The Riverdogs got their big inning in the top of the sixth when Weems led off with a walk and Ray Kruml hit a one-out single into center field. Taylor Grote drew a walk to lead the bases and David Adams cleaned them up with a three-run double down the left field line, tying the game at 9-9. Aristil held the Riverdogs scoreless until being replaced in the top of the seventh by Michael Marbry.
Marbry worked a scoreless seventh before giving up a one-out double to Ray Kruml in the eighth. Taylor Grote grounded out to third, advancing the runner to third base with two away. David Adams came up with another RBI double to give Charleston a 10-9 lead through seven and a half.
David Christensen then came up to lead off the bottom of the eighth and crushed a game-tying solo homer to deep center field. Ryan Peisel followed with a base hit and, after a pitching change, Scott Robinson came in to pinch run for Peisel. Seabury laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Robinson to third, it was the third sacrifice of the day for Seabury. Thomas Field came up with a huge single down the third base line and off the glove of Lassater. The ball bounced into shallow left field, allowing the speedy Robinson to come all the way around to score. Field was thrown out trying to take second base on the play, but Cleary ripped a two-out base hit through the hole into right field and promptly stole second base. Patrick Rose drove Cleary in with a single into left field, providing the Tourists and Adam Jorgenson a 12-10 lead and all the insurance they would need.
Jorgenson came on to earn his second save of the season, working a perfect top of the ninth inning. The Tourists (9-11) will take on the Riverdogs (11-9) in game three of this four-game series Thursday night at McCormick Field. Asheville will send LHP Christian Friedrich (1-0, 0.53) to the mound to face off against Charleston RHP Andrew Brackman (0-2, 5.23). Tickets for Thursday's game and all Tourists home games are available by contacting the Tourists box office at (828) 258-0428. You can also listen to all 140 Asheville Tourists games live on 100.7 WRES FM or streaming online at www.theashevilletourists.com.
South Atlantic League Stories from April 29, 2009
- Sand Gnats Nip Drive, 11-7 - Greenville Drive
- Gnats end streak with 11-7 win - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Challenger League to Play at Appalachian Power Park - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Pirate Mania This Weekend at Appalachian Power Park - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Legends attendance numbers defy recession - Lexington Legends
- BlueClaws fall to Shorebirds - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Christensen Powers Tourists Past Riverdogs - Asheville Tourists
- Tourists Outlast RiverDogs in Slugfest - Charleston RiverDogs
- Lombardozzi's Big Day Ends Suns Skid - Hagerstown Suns
- Grasshoppers Rally Late to Defeat Power - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- Legends win series opener over Hot Rods, 8-1 - Lexington Legends
- Legends take second straight from Braves - Lexington Legends
- Kannapolis falls apart late in 6-4 loss to Hickory - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Salary Caps and Slinkys Bookend 8-Game Homestand - Charleston RiverDogs
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
