SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Walk off on Benintendi's Blast, 6-5

Published on September 3, 2015 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - The "it's not how you start, it's how you finish" motto never rang truer than it did at Fluor Field on Thursday night. After falling behind early, the Greenville Drive clawed their way back and used a walk-off two-run homer by Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the ninth to stun the Savannah Sand Gnats 6-5.

The Drive's (32-34, 70-66) winning rally began when Rafael Devers drew a leadoff walk against Alberto Baldonado (0-7). Benintendi then stepped to the plate and smacked an 0-1 offering 392 feet over the wall in right field to set off a massive celebration at home plate.

Ryan Harris (2-4) capped off a herculean effort by Drive relief pitchers on Thursday, throwing a scoreless ninth to get the win.

Harris, Carlos Pinales and Kuehl McEachern combined to allow just one run over eight and one-third innings of relief with seven strikeouts. Pinales threw three and one-third hitless innings with six punchouts while allowing just one run, and McEachern kept the Sand Gnats (43-20, 82-51) off the board in his four innings.

Savannah tagged Greenville starter Luis Ramos for five hits and four runs in the top of the first, knocking him out of the game after recording just two outs. Three consecutive singles began the game, with the third by Wuilmer Becerra plating two runs. Tyler Moore's groundout brought home a third run, and a Natanael Ramos RBI single finished Ramos's night.

The Drive answered back with single runs in the second and third against Josh Prevost. Joseph Monge doubled with one out in the second and later came home on a wild pitch, and Devers doubled in the third and came in on Nick Longhi's RBI groundout.

Becerra's RBI fielder's choice in the fifth pushed Savannah's cushion to 5-2, but the Drive began their comeback in the seventh when Monge singled home a pair of runs.

Devers and Monge led the way with three hits apiece for Greenville, while Benintendi and Longhi joined in with two hits. Becerra drove home three runs for Savannah.

Both Greenville and the Asheville Tourists won their games on Thursday night, meaning the Tourists maintain their half-game lead in the Southern Division standings with four games remaining.

First pitch on Friday night at Fluor Field is set for 7:05 PM. RH Ben Taylor (0-2, 3.40) takes the mound for the Drive, and the Sand Gnats will counter with RH Martires Arias (7-5, 2.43).

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from September 3, 2015


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.

OurSports Central