SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Easily Defeat Crawdads, 10-2

Published on September 4, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - The Drive's (77-60, 41-26) offense gave hitting coach Luis Lopez one heck of a present for his 40th birthday on Saturday, pounding out 14 hits as they defeated the Hickory Crawdads (73-64, 33-34) 10-2 in front of 4,991 fans at Fluor Field.

The reigning South Atlantic League Player of the Week, Greenville first baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez, continued to state his case to repeat the honor as he belted a pair of homers and driving in four runs.

Greenville broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second, totaling three runs on five hits off Hickory's Matt Thompson (9-9). Christian Vazquez knocked in the game's first run, delivering an RBI-single which scored Kolbrin Vitek. Shannon Wilkerson and Jeremy Hazelbaker each collected a run-scoring single as well.

After the Crawdads plated their first run in the top of the third on Edwin Garcia's leadoff homer, Michael Almanzar answered by belting a solo homer in the home half of the inning.

The Drive's scoring barrage continued into the bottom of the fourth as they sent eight batters to the plate, en route to adding five more runs to their total. Following back-to-back singles from Vazquez and Zach Gentile to leadoff the inning, Wilkerson moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt.

Jeremy Hazelbaker then laced a single past the Crawdads drawn in offense to score the pair. The speedy outfielder proceeded to easily swipe second and third base, giving him 63 stolen bases. Derrik Gibson then drew a one-out walk from reliever Kyle Ocampo, before Rodriguez blasted his first homer of the night.

Rodriguez capped the Drive's scoring in the bottom of the sixth with a solo round tripper, his second of the night and his team-leading 14th of the season.

Making his Greenville Drive debut since being traded from the Colorado Rockies organization on August 31st, right-hander Chris Balcom-Miller (7-7) shined in his new uni. The 21-year-old, who had just pitched at Fluor Field six days prior as a member of the Asheville Tourists, allowed a pair of runs on five hits while not issuing a walk and striking out three.

Relievers Pedro Perez and Anatanaer Batista combined on the final three innings, holding Hickory scoreless.

The Drive will head into Sunday's match-up needing a win or an Asheville loss to clinch the Southern Division crown, as the Tourists defeated the Sand Gnats to delay the celebration. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM, as right-hander Ryan Pressly (5-6, 3.50 ERA) will head to the mound for Greenville. Hickory will counter with southpaw Robbie Erlin (6-3, 2.18 ERA).

Following tomorrow night's game, fans will be treated to the final fireworks show of the season. For more information regarding single-game ticket, luxury accommodations, and group outings, call (864) 240-4500 or visit www.GreenvilleDrive.com.

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South Atlantic League Stories from September 4, 2010


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