Crawdads Pull Away from Drive with Big Inning

Greenville, SC - One day after being powered by their offense to a win, the Hickory Crawdads outdid themselves on Tuesday night at Fluor Field, riding an 11-run fifth inning to cruise to a 14-4 win over the Greenville Drive in the finale of the four-game series.
Hickory (35-23, 65-61) sent 16 hitters to the plate in the frame, and forced a pair of Drive (32-26, 57-70) pitching changes. Bubba Thompson got the big inning started with a long solo home run to left off Enmanuel De Jesus (7-5), and he added a two-run single later on. Sam Huff also drove home three runs in the frame, singling home two runners with nobody out and adding an RBI triple with two outs.
The Crawdads took a 3-0 lead in the first three innings. Ryan Dorow blasted a two-out solo homer in the first, and a pair of Drive errors brought in two runs in the third.
The Drive cut the lead to one thanks to two runs in the fourth. After a leadoff double by Ryan Fitzgerald and a single by Marino Campana, Pedro Castellanos grounded a double down the third base line for the first Greenville run. Tanner Nishioka followed with a fielder's choice that scored the second run.
Nishioka chipped in with a two-run double off the center field wall in the bottom of the sixth against Reid Anderson (8-6).
Dominic LoBrutto provided the Drive with some terrific length out of the bullpen, as the southpaw worked three and one-third scoreless innings while striking out six.
Castellanos, Campana and Fitzgerald collected two hits apiece, while Nishioka drove home three runs.

Following an off day, the Drive will begin their final road trip of the season in the Lowcountry, as the four-game series against the Charleston RiverDogs begins at 7:05 on Thursday. The pitching matchup will feature Drive left-hander Jhonathan Diaz (9-8, 3.41) against RiverDogs right-hander Janson Junk (6-4, 3.72).
~Greenville Drive~