Drive Complete Sweep as Tourists Fall 11-7 in Series Finale

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Six games. Six losses. The Greenville Drive completed a sweep of the Tourists Sunday afternoon, winning 11-7 in a back and forth game that slipped away in the seventh inning. It is the second time this season Asheville has been swept in a six-game series, and it comes at a tough time with the playoff race tightening in the Southern Division.

The Tourists had their chances. They led 7-5 heading into the seventh inning and had the momentum. But a bases-clearing triple from Jake Schaffner turned the game on its head and Greenville never looked back.

Justin Thomas Jr. got the Tourists started immediately, leading off the first with a solo home run to left-center. 1-0. Enddy Azocar answered in the third with a two-run shot, his third of the series, to put the Drive in front. Then Caden Powell responded with one of the biggest home runs of the season, launching a 472-foot blast at 109 miles per hour to score two and put Asheville back on top 3-2. The back and forth continued when Maximus Martin crushed a three-run homer in the fourth to push Greenville ahead 5-2 and effectively end Dylan Howard's day.

Howard finished with 3.2 innings, five earned runs, and five strikeouts. Raimy Rodriguez came on and was steady, going 2.1 innings without a walk and allowing just one run to keep the Tourists within reach.

Asheville pulled back in it in the sixth. Greenville reliever Adam Bates loaded the bases and walked Anthony Huezo to force in a run. 5-4. Then Kyle Walker delivered the moment of the game. He roped a hanging breaking ball to left-center that smashed off the top of the wall, a bases-clearing double that scored Neyens, Powell, and Huezo to put the Tourists on top 7-5.

Then the seventh inning arrived. Jackson Wells inherited a Rodriguez leadoff walk and couldn't escape. An Azocar double, a Gonzalez hit by pitch, and a Schaffner bases-clearing triple to the right field corner swung the game back to Greenville in a matter of minutes. 8-7. Gerardo Rodriguez followed with an RBI double to make it 9-7. Wells finished with two innings, four hits, and three runs allowed.

Asheville had runners on first and second with nobody out in the eighth and hit three straight balls at 100-plus miles per hour directly to infielders. The Tourists couldn't get one through. Greenville added two more in the ninth on an Owen Hull double and a Ronny Hernandez single to set the final at 11-7.

John Garcia was the only Tourist with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. Powell's 472-foot home run was the offensive highlight of the day for Asheville.

The sweep stings, but the Tourists have shown all season long that they can bounce back. Asheville hits the road Tuesday to visit the Winston-Salem Dash at 6:30 p.m. before returning home on August 11th to open a series against the Rome Emperors at HomeTrust Park.