Tourists Even Series with 5-4 Win over Drive
July 20, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release
Asheville, NC - A four-run bottom of the sixth inning put the Asheville Tourists ahead on Friday night, and they held off a late Greenville Drive rally to come away with a 5-4 victory.
With the game tied 1-1 entering the top of the sixth, the Drive (16-12, 41-56) took the lead when Ryan Fitzgerald drove a solo homer over the wall in right-center, his fifth of the year. Following a two-out triple by Pedro Castellanos, Tanner Nishioka lined an RBI single to right to extend the lead to 3-1.
That lead was short-lived, as the Tourists (15-11, 42-53) tagged Jhonathan Diaz (6-6) for four runs in the bottom half. RBI singles by Chad Spanberger and Matt McLaughlin tied the game up, and a two-run double by Sean Bouchard put Asheville ahead for good.
The Drive made things interesting in the top of the ninth by putting runners on second and third with one out. Zach Sterry then came in to score on a wild pitch to trim the Tourists lead to one, but Robert Tyler recorded a pair of strikeouts to preserve the victory for Asheville.
Nishioka put the Drive ahead 1-0 in the top of the second with a solo homer to right-center, giving him two straight games with a home run and five long balls on the season. He and Fitzgerald each collected two hits for Greenville on Friday.
Taylor Snyder answered in the bottom half of the frame with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Braxton Lorenzini (3-0) got the win in relief for the Tourists.
The series rolls on with a 6:05 PM first pitch on Saturday in Asheville. The pitching matchup will feature Drive right-hander Kutter Crawford (4-4, 2.77) against Tourists right-hander Frederis Parra (1-1, 4.58).
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