SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive complete sweep of Hot Rods

Published on June 15, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - A forty minute rain delay in the bottom of the first may have cooled the Greenville air, but it certainly did not cool the Drive's (36-27) bats. Led by Tim Federowicz's near perfect 4-for-5 performance at the plate and Mitch Dening's career-high four RBI, the Drive completed the three-game sweep of the Hot Rods (31-33) with a 13-0 shutout.

It was also the Drive's league-leading ninth shutout of the season, as four pitchers combined to limit Bowling Green to five hits. Starting pitcher Stephen Fife lasted just an inning as he did not comeback out after the delay.

Mike Lee (1-1) was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion, as he tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while fanning five.

Greenville broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third as Michael Almanzar led off with a double and David Marks drew a walk. Zach Gentile then laid down a sacrifice bunt, but a muffed throw by Hot Rods' third baseman Jeremy Beckham allowed Almanzar to score. Federowicz followed by lacing a two-run double.

An inning later, the Drive added two more runs on RBI-singles from Gentile and Anthony Rizzo. More damage could have been done as the bases were loaded with only run out, however Greenville was unable to push another run across.

The runs kept coming as Greenville plated three more runs in the sixth. Federowicz began the inning with a single and scored on Rizzo's double. After Ryan Lavarnway was issued a free pass, Mitch Dening smacked a triple to straight away center.

All nine batters stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh as the Drive capped their scoring with five runs. Greenville continued to show why they are the league's best two-out hitting team, as the first two batters were retired before the next six batters reached base.

Dening knocked in Federowicz and Rizzo with a double, and Ryan Dent collected his only hit of the game with a two-run triple.

Armando Zerpa and Leandro Marin closed out the shutout by tossing the final three innings. Zerpa, a South Atlantic League All-Star, held Bowling Green hitless over 2.0 scoreless innings, before Marin pitched the ninth.

All but Marquis Fleming allowed a run among the Hot Rods' five pitchers, with starter Joe Cruz (2-3) enduring the loss. The right-hander struckout a season-high eight batters in 3-1/3 innings, but surrendered four runs on four hits and two walks.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 15, 2009


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