SAL1 Greenville Drive

Homers Doom Drive in 7-2 Loss to Crawdads

Published on May 21, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


For the second consecutive night, the Greenville Drive (13-32) were done in by the home run, as the Hickory Crawdads (25-19) rode the powerful bat of Ryan Rua to a 7-2 victory on Tuesday night.

Rua kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the second against Drive starter Francellis Montas as he drove a solo homer over the left field wall. His big night continued in the sixth inning. Drive reliever Francisco Taveras (0-2) issued a two-out walk, and after a single by Jorge Alfaro, Rua doubled to left to score both runners.

He wasn't content with just one homer and three RBIs, however. With two men on base in the bottom of the eighth, he smacked a Taveras offering to left for a three-run shot that put the game out of reach.

For the game, Rua finished 3-4 with two homers and six RBIs.

Crawdads starter Andrew Faulkner fired five scoreless scoreless innings, but it was Sam Stafford (1-4) who picked up the win in relief despite allowing both Drive runs in an inning of work.

The Drive took a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Cody Koback hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a flyout and came in to score on Tim Roberson's RBI single. After a strikeout, Kevin Mager's double to center plated Roberson all the way from first.

Montas was very effective in the loss, as the solo homer to Rua amounted to the only hit and run he allowed on the night. He also walked just one hitter while striking out eight.

Roberson collected two hits for Greenville, while Alfaro picked up a pair of hits and scored twice for Hickory.

The Drive will try to avoid the sweep on Wednesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05. They will send RHP Pat Light (1-3, 8.28) to the mound, while the Crawdads will counter with RHP Tyler Smith (4-1, 3.89).

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 21, 2013


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