SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Walk Off with 2-1 Victory in Home Finale

Published on August 28, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Wednesday night marked the final game at Fluor Field in 2013, and the fans got two extra innings between the Greenville Drive (27-36, 49-83) and Charleston RiverDogs (35-31, 74-60) to mark the occasion. Mario Martinez helped the Drive finish the home slate with a bang, as his 11th inning single gave the Drive a 2-1 victory.

With one out in the bottom of the 11th and John Brebbia (0-2) on the mound, Jesus Loya drew a walk. After a groundout by Aneury Tavarez pushed Loya to second, Martinez smacked the 0-1 pitch into the left-center gap which ignited a celebration on the infield.

Joining Martinez on the list of heroes in the game for the Drive was reliever Kyle Martin (2-1), who hurled three scoreless innings to pick up the victory. He allowed just one walk and punched out four.

Both starters traded zeroes for the entirety of their outings. Sergio Gomez made his finest start of the year for the Drive, throwing six scoreless frames while allowing just two hits and three walks with three strikeouts. In his first appearance of the season for the RiverDogs, Rookie Davis worked in and out of trouble, but he kept the Drive off the scoreboard with six strikeouts in five innings despite allowing eight hits.

It was the RiverDogs who struck first in the top of the eighth against Raynel Velette. Jake Cave began the inning by smacking a triple to right-center, and he promptly scored on Jose Rosario's sharp single to center field.

The Drive were able to bring home a runner to tie the game in the ninth with Derek Varnadore in his fifth inning of relief for Charleston. Dreily Guerrero dropped down a bunt single with one out, and advanced to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run single by Reed Gragnani. Loya's ground ball to second was then booted by second baseman Fu-Lin Kuo to knot the game up.

Guerrero, Loya and Leonel Escobar each collected two hits for Greenville. Danny Oh went 3-3 at the plate for Charleston.

After an off day on Thursday, the Drive will finish the season on the road, as they play six games in four days against the Savannah Sand Gnats. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 5:30. RHP Jacob Dahlstrand (4-7, 4.45) and LHP Cody Kukuk (4-12, 4.43) are the scheduled starters in the double dip for the Drive.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 28, 2013


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