SAL1 Greenville Drive

Tourists Sweep Drive with 8-2 Win

Published on August 13, 2015 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - The Greenville Drive concluded their season series against the Asheville Tourists with a whimper, as the Tourists cruised to an 8-2 victory on Thursday night at Fluor Field to clinch a sweep of the three-game set.

The Tourists (28-17, 60-55) never trailed in the game, as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second off Luis Ramos (1-2), who was making his first home start of the year. Yonathan Daza walked to begin the frame and moved to third on a double by Josh Fuentes. Two batters later, Nate Causey grounded a single to right field to plate Daza. Max George followed with a bunt single to first base for the second run.

In the third, the Drive (21-25, 59-57) cut the Asheville lead in half when Mike Meyers doubled to left and came home on a sharp single to center by Michael Chavis.

That was as close as the Drive would get, as the Tourists exploded for five runs off Ramos in the fourth. Singles by Causey and George with one out got things going, and Forrest Wall and Shane Hoelscher each delivered RBI singles to extend the lead to 4-1. Dom Nunez then delivered the biggest hit of the frame, stroking a three-run homer just inside the foul pole in right.

Jesus Tinoco (2-0) was terrific in getting the win for Asheville, striking out eight over six innings while allowing only five hits and one run.

Asheville scored a run in the seventh when Daza doubled and came in to score on a single by Fuentes.

The Drive answered with a run in the bottom half on an RBI groundout by Meyers, but Tourists reliever Blake Shouse would settle down and finish the game from there to record his third save.

Meyers paced the Greenville offense with three hits. Wall had four hits to lead the charge for Asheville, while Causey, Fuentes, George and Hoelscher all chipped in with two hits.

Greenville relievers Jake Drehoff and Mario Alcantara combined to hold the Tourists to one run over the final five innings.

The homestand continues on Friday night as the Drive welcome the Charleston RiverDogs, affiliate of the New York Yankees, to Greenville for a three-game series in the final games of this year's Battle of the Palmetto State Rivalry Series presented by Spinx. First pitch is set for 7:05. Before the game, the Drive will be presented with this season's Spinx Rivalry Series trophy, and the Drive's most valuable player, as voted on by the fans, will be presented with the Jim Rice Award.

Friday night's pitching matchup features Drive RH Ben Taylor (0-1, 3.86) and RiverDogs LH Rony Bautista (3-5, 4.24).

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 13, 2015


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