Tourists Wrap Up Home Schedule With Victory
September 3, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
(Asheville, NC) - The Tourists emerged victorious in their final home game of the 2009 regular season, beating the Lexington Legends, 6-4. The win shrinks Asheville's magic number to two games, as second-place Augusta won their contest in Rome. David Christensen hit an inside-the-park two-run homerun as part of a three-run sixth inning to put the Tourists ahead for good. With 7.1 innings and two earned runs, Juan Nicasio finishes the regular season in the top five in the South Atlantic League in ERA.
Lexington opened the scoring in the top of the first, plating an unearned run off Nicasio to take the lead, 1-0. They added two more runs in the top of the fourth on a two-run double for right fielder Marques Williams, taking a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth.
The Tourists got on the board in the fourth, when Mike Zuanich smacked a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Jordan Pacheco and making it 3-1 Lexington.
Asheville's big inning came in the sixth, when Pacheco singled with one out to start the rally. After a strikeout, Zuanich doubled down the right field line, scoring Pacheco to make it 3-2. David Christensen then hit a high fly ball to center field and Jay Austin had it pop in and out of his glove as he backed into the center field wall. Austin went down to the ground, and Christensen raced around the bases for a two-run inside-the-park homerun, the first for Asheville this season. Christensen's 17th homer of the year gave the Tourists a 4-3 lead and they never looked back.
Lexington gifted the Tourists a couple of insurance runs in the seventh inning, with Asheville scoring twice on just one hit. The bases were loaded on two walks and an error, and with two outs, Kiel Roling swung at a pitch in the dirt; but the passed ball plated two runs to make it 6-3 Asheville.
The Legends scraped across a run in the top of the ninth against Rex Brothers, but Adam Jorgenson came on to close it out and earned his 26th save of the season.
The Tourists (41-24) will travel to Greenville to take on the Drive (30-35), needing two victories in their four games to guarantee a trip to the playoffs. Asheville will have RHP Dan Houston (7-9, 3.81) starting game one in Greenville against Drive LHP Fabian Williamson (10-4, 2.27). All 140 Tourists games can be heard live on the radio on 100.7 WRES FM or streaming online at www.theashevilletourists.com.
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South Atlantic League Stories from September 3, 2009
- Oscar Tejeda's 12th Inning Single Secures 7-6 Walk-Off Victory - Greenville Drive
- 'Hoppers top 'Dads in final home game of '09 - Hickory Crawdads
- Hot Rods can't hang on in 7-6 12-inning loss - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Suns Fall Short - Hagerstown Suns
- Wild Pitch the Difference in Penultimate Road Game - Augusta GreenJackets
- Tourists Wrap Up Home Schedule With Victory - Asheville Tourists
- Asheville Takes Series Finale from Legends 6-4 - Lexington Legends
- Almonte's Two Jacks Swat Sand Gnats, 8-4 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Rome Shutout Again - Rome Emperors
- BlueClaws Belt Out Twelve Hits - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Kannapolis headed to postseason with win - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Intimidators Ended West Virginia's Bid at a Third Consecutive Post Season Birth - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Suns Raise $5,372 For Breast Cancer Awareness Through Pitching Pink Campaign - Hagerstown Suns
- BlueClaws Win South Atlantic League's Club Merit Award - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- RiverDogs to Be Recognized with Several League Awards - Charleston RiverDogs
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