COLUMBIA- The Asheville Tourists tossed their third shutout in the month of August and fourth in 2018 with a 9-0 blanking of the Columbia Fireflies on Sunday afternoon. The shutout victory helped Asheville avoid a series sweep after the Tourists dropped the first three games of the series.Asheville scored seven
COLUMBIA- The Asheville Tourists tossed their third shutout in the month of August and fourth in 2018 with a 9-0 blanking of the Columbia Fireflies on Sunday afternoon. The shutout victory helped Asheville avoid a series sweep after the Tourists dropped the first three games of the series.
Asheville scored seven of their nine runs in the fourth inning. It started with a 429-foot Todd Czinege two-run Home Run to centerfield; Todd's sixth Home Run in his last eight games. Austin Bernard and Matt McLaughlin each added two-run doubles in the inning while Ryan Vialde also recorded an RBI double.
Taylor Snyder 's solo Home Run in the sixth inning made it 8-0 and Jeff Moberg 's seventh inning sacrifice fly served as the game's final scoring play. Vilade reached base five times in the win and every Tourists player in the lineup recorded at least one hit.
The pitching was led by left-hander Lucas Gilbreath . Gilbreath went five innings and surrendered only two base-runners. Columbia hit a pair of singles in the third inning; however, Gilbreath worked around them by striking out the next two batters to end the threat. Lucas finished with eight strikeouts and won his third consecutive start.
Erick Julio pitched the next three innings and did not allow a hit. Austin Moore completed the shutout performance with a perfect ninth inning. Up next is a date with the Kannapolis Intimidators. Monday's contest is set for 7:05pm.
