'Dads edged by Drive in 11 innings, 4-3
Published on July 2, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
GREENVILLE, SC - The Hickory Crawdads, 1st-Half Northern Division Champions, were edged by the Greenville Drive, 4-3, in 11 innings on Saturday, before 4,961 fans at Fluor Field in Greenville.
Both teams' starting pitchers -- RHP Roman Mendez for the 'Dads and RHP Brandon Workman for the Drive -- got off to dominant beginnings to their outings, keeping the opposing offenses off the board through the first four frames.
Workman was literally unhittable through 4.2 frames, tossing a no-hitter until DH Yefry Castillo struck with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the fifth. 1B Andrew Clark had walked to lead off the inning and was the runner who cruised home on Castillo's extra-base hit, putting Hickory in front, 1-0.
Mendez kept Greenville (45-35, 7-3) off the board through his first five frames, but the Drive managed to tie it with a tally in the sixth. 2B Heiker Meneses and DH Sean Coyle led off with consecutive singles. After a strikeout, both runners advanced ninety feet on a balk by Mendez. 1B Michael Almanzar then drove in Meneses with an RBI grounder, evening the score, 1-1.
The Drive moved in front for the first time in the bottom of the seventh. SS Xander Bogaerts led off with a solo homer, before Mendez navigated through the remainder of his final inning with no further damage being done, exiting with 10 strikeouts but the Drive leading, 2-1.
Hickory (45-33, 5-5) wasted no time battling back, striking for two tallies in the top of the eighth against RHP Micheal Olmsted. LF Jonathan Roof sparked the inning with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by SS Jurickson Profar. Roof then charged home on a wild pitch during CF Jake Skole's at-bat, tying the game, 2-2. A couple pitches later, Skole was hit by an offering from Olmsted to get another runner on in the inning. 3B Christian Villanueva advanced Skole to second with a ground out. Clark then drove a hard-hit fly ball to center field that CF Henry Ramos misplayed for an error, allowing Skole to race in from second and put Hickory in front, 3-2.
RHP Ben Rowen and RHP Ryan Rodebaugh combined for a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning, but Greenville battled back with an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth. RF Lucas LeBlanc led off with a single and quickly stole his way to second. LF Felix Sanchez worked a walk, and then both runners completed a double steal to reach second and third base with no outs. Rodebaugh dealt back-to-back strikeouts without enabling anyone to advance to bring the Drive to their final out. C Christian Vazquez ripped a sharp ground ball to third base that Villanueva bobbled for an error, giving LeBlanc the chance to charge home and tie the game, 3-3, forcing extra innings.
RHP Jorge Marban (L, 1-3) took over and dealt a scoreless 10th, before the Drive won it in the 11th. With one down and the bases empty, Coyle was hit by a pitch and promptly swiped second base. With Vazquez at the plate, Coyle moved to third on a wild pitch, and then later streaked home on another wild pitch to score the game-winning run in the 11-inning 4-3 victory for the Drive. RHP Charle Rosario (W, 5-0) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win for Greenville.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 2, 2011
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