Drive End First Half with 8-5 Loss to Suns

Hagerstown, MD - All good things must come to an end, and the Greenville Drive's (34-35) four-game winning streak can be added to the list, as the Hagerstown Suns (44-26) avoided a sweep in the four-game series with an 8-5 victory on Sunday afternoon.

The Suns entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 3-1, but a three-run sixth against Greenville's Trey Ball (1-6) put them on top and a four-run seventh helped them pull away. Isaac Ballou hit a one-out double in the sixth and came in to score when former Clemson Tiger Spencer Kieboom tripled to left field. Drew Ward followed by smoking a two-run homer to center to make the score 4-3.

Hagerstown added four runs in the seventh against Jacob Dahlstrand, with many of the usual suspects contributing to the big inning. Brennan Middleton singled to begin the frame and later came in on a Narciso Mesa single. Ballou laced an RBI single later in the inning, Kieboom followed with a sacrifice fly to score a run and Ward capped the frame with a single back through the box.

David Napoli (1-0) pitched a perfect sixth inning to earn the victory. Jake Walsh collected his eighth save of the season for the Suns by recording the last four outs.

Kieboom put Hagerstown up 1-0 in the first with an RBI single, and that lead stood until the fourth inning, when Jantzen Witte concluded his monster first half with a two-run homer against Austin Voth to put the Drive up 2-1.

Jimmy Rider's sacrifice fly extended the Drive lead to 3-1 in the fifth, and a wild pitch and an RBI single by Wendell Rijo in the eighth gave the Drive a pair of runs that weren't enough.

Kieboom and Ward both collected two hits and three RBI for the Suns, while Ballou, Middleton and Wilmer Difo added a pair of hits apiece. Zach Kapstein had two hits for the Drive and has now had a multi-hit affair four times in his last ten games.

Sunday's game concluded the first half for the Drive, and seven team representatives will head to Hickory for the South Atlantic League All-Star festivities. The All-Star game will be held on Tuesday night. Catcher Jake Romanski and first baseman Jantzen Witte will start the game for the Southern Division, while infielder Carlos Asuaje and pitchers Jonathan Aro and Joe Gunkel will also make the trip. Manager Darren Fenster and Pitching Coach Paul Abbott will serve on the Southern Division coaching staff.

The Drive open the second half of the 2014 season at Fluor Field on Thursday as they begin a four-game series against the Savannah Sand Gnats, winners of the Southern Division first half title.