Drive Split Twin Bill Against Hickory
July 28, 2021 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Greenville Drive News Release
Hickory, N.C. - Greenville took game one, 5-3, against Hickory behind 6.0 strong innings and a career-high 12 strikeouts from Brandon Walter and homers by Tyler Dearden, Joe Davis and Tyler Esplin but dropped game two in extra innings, 3-2, after Brian Van Belle extended his scoreless streak to 22 innings Wednesday night at J.P. Franz Stadium.
Game 1
Drive starting pitcher Brandon Walter tossed 6.0 innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts while Tyler Dearden roped a go-ahead three-run homer in the fourth and Joe Davis added an insurance run with a solo clout of his own to propel Greenville to a 5-3 win.
Over Walter's 6.0 innings of work, a career high, he surrendered two runs, both unearned, on one hit and one walk. To go along with his career-high 12 strikeouts, he set a new Drive season-standard for most strikeouts in one game. Yorvin Pantoja earned the save after tossing 1.0 innings and allowing one run with one strikeout.
Justin Slaten took the loss after surrendering all five runs over his 5.1 innings.
The Drive tallied seven hits and three homers. All five runs came via the longball. Dearden led the way with three RBI and 1-for-3 performance with a walk. Davis and Tyler Esplin hit solo shots. Seven of the nine hitters registered a hit.
The Crawdads took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on two unearned runs due to a Drive error.
Greenville got one of the runs back the following inning, however. Esplin led off the inning and lined the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for a solo clout, his second of the year, to make the score 2-1 in favor of the home team.
The Drive then took the lead in the sixth inning. Koss and Cannon got things started with back-to-back singles to start the frame. Dearden then came to the plate and lined a three-run homer to right, his 11th of the year. After a strikeout, Davis launched a solo clout to right, his first in a Drive uniform, to give Greenville a 5-2 lead.
Game 2
Hickory scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game at 1-1 to eventually send it to extras where they edged the Drive, 3-2, in 10 innings to win game two.
Greenville failed to score a run in the top half of the 10th inning.
In the bottom half, Frainyer Chavez started the frame at second and got to third on a passed ball. With one out, Blaine Crim singled home the winning run.
Drive hitters combined for just three hits and four walks. Dearden hit a solo round-tripper for his second of the day. Howlett collected the other RBI on a sac fly in the ninth inning. Christian Koss and Jaxx Groshans also to registered hits.
Sean Chandler picked up the win after hurling 2.0 innings and allowing just one unearned run with three punchouts.
Brendan Cellucci took the loss. He relented the unearned run in the tenth inning.
Brian Van Belle started for the Drive and tossed 5.0 innings of shutout ball. He allowed four hits and two walks with nine strikeouts-a career-high. He has not relented a run in 22-straight innings.
After being no-hit over the first three innings, the Drive broke that up with a single in the fourth and eventually took the lead that inning. With two outs, Dearden blasted a 2-0 pitch to center field for a solo clout, it was his second homer between the two games, for a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Hickory tied the game at 1-1 on a Jonathan Ornelas RBI double.
The game went into extras and neither team scored in the eighth inning.
Greenville plated a single run in the second extra frame. With Elih Marrero placed on second base to begin the inning, he stole third with one out. That brought up Howlett who skied a sac fly to give the Drive a 2-1 lead.
However, the Crawdads plated an unearned run on a fielding error to tie the game at 2-2 and send it to another inning of extras.
Hickory kept the Drive off the board in the top half of the tenth and then scored the winning run in their half of the frame.
Game three is scheduled for 7:00 PM Thursday night at J.P Franz Stadium. The Drive are slated to throw Chris Murphy while Hickory is set to start Cody Bradford.
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