SAL1 Greenville Drive

Hickory Holds off Greenville, 5-4, in Series Opener Tuesday

Published on April 30, 2019 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


LEXINGTON, Ky. - With the game tied at 2-2 in the sixth, the Hickory Crawdads used three-run seventh to take control of the game, before holding on for a 5-4 victory over the Greenville Drive on Tuesday afternoon at Fluor Field.

Hickory (17-7) got on the board first with a run in the second, as Sam Huff hit a solo home run to center, his 12th of the season, to give the Crawdads a 1-0 lead.

Greenville (11-13) tied it with a run in the third. Grant Williams led off the inning with a single to center and moved to second on a wild pitch a few pitches later. A sacrifice bunt by Cole Brannen moved him to third with one out and Tyler Esplin brought him home a groundout to second, tying the game at 1-1.

The Drive then took the lead with a run in the fifth. A solo home run to left by Brandon Howlett, his first of the season, put the home team in front, 2-1.

Hickory answered in its next at-bat to re-tie the game. With the bases loaded and one out, Matt Whatley singled to center to score one and tie the game at 2-2. Brendan Nail came on to pitch for the Drive, getting a pair of popouts to end the inning and strand three.

Both offenses put up a crooked number in the seventh. An RBI single by Jonathan Ornelas and a two-RBI double by Sherten Apostel gave the Crawdads a 5-2 advantage. Greenville countered in the bottom half on an RBI double by Kervin Suarez and an RBI groundout by Williams, cutting the lead to 5-4. The Drive were unable to make any headway from there, as Hickory retired six of seven batters in the final two innings.

Yerry Rodriguez (3-1) got the win, allowing runs on six hits with seven strikeouts against one walk in 6.0 innings of work. Nail (0-1) suffered the loss in his first appearance with the Drive this season, allowing three runs on four hits with one strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched. Wes Robertson recorded his first save of the season, working scoreless eighth and ninth innings and allowing just one walk.

Williams led the Drive offense on the afternoon, going 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Howlett went 1-for-3 with the home run, two runs and an RBI, while Suarez and Jordan Wren each doubled in the contest.

Game two of the series is set for 7:05 PM on Wednesday. RHP Brayan Bello (1-0, 1.89 ERA) goes to the mound for the Drive, facing RHP Hans Crouse (2-0, 1.33 ERA) for the Crawdads.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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



South Atlantic League Stories from April 30, 2019


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