Infield hits doom Tourists in late innings

ROME, GA - The Asheville Tourists fell on the wrong side of a 3-2 barnburner against the Rome Emperors on Friday night at AdventHealth Stadium.

For the first time since the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game, the Emperors (6-7) jumped on the board with two runs to open the scoring in the second.

The Tourists’ (6-6) pitching staff locked down the Rome bats for the next five innings, while Asheville clawed back to even the score.

Drew Vogel brought home runs in the fifth and seventh innings. He doubled to left field, then golf-swung a single into center in his two-for-three effort at the plate.

During the home eighth, Rome tagged Alain Pena (0-1) for his first run of the night off back-to-back infield singles. The Tourists righty had gone two strong innings beforehand.

Limited to five hits or fewer for the third time in the series, the Asheville offense ran out of gas in the ninth inning.

While the club was two-for-five with runners in scoring position tonight, they also struck out 14 times and struggled to create scoring chances.

Asheville will look to find a groove tomorrow, as they get back to the grind with a 7:00 p.m. ET first pitch against Rome for Game 5 of the series.