Columbia, SC - The Greenville Drive used two first inning runs and another terrific start on the mound on Thursday to defeat the Columbia Fireflies 4-2 for the second straight game.The Drive (7-8, 32-52) took a 1-0 lead two pitches into the game, as Tanner Nishioka smacked a Tony Dibrell
Columbia, SC - The Greenville Drive used two first inning runs and another terrific start on the mound on Thursday to defeat the Columbia Fireflies 4-2 for the second straight game.
The Drive (7-8, 32-52) took a 1-0 lead two pitches into the game, as Tanner Nishioka smacked a Tony Dibrell (3-4) offering over the wall down the left field line for his third home run of the season. Later in the inning, Ryan Fitzgerald walked, stole second and came in to score on a single by Garrett Benge.
Kutter Crawford (3-4) got the win for the Drive. He worked six and two-third innings and allowed seven hits, two runs and one walk with six strikeouts.
Nishioka added an RBI single for Greenville in the fourth inning to score Samuel Miranda, who doubled off the left field wall, and Miranda plated a run on a Fireflies (7-7, 41-40) error in the sixth.
Carlos Sanchez hit an RBI groundout for Columbia in the second inning, and Jeremy Vazquez laced an RBI single in the sixth.
Nishioka led the Greenville offense with two hits and two RBI. Marcos Lantigua and Devon Fisher combined to keep Columbia scoreless over the final two and one-third innings, and Fisher recorded his fourth save.
The Drive will go for a three-game series sweep on Friday night in Columbia at 7:05. Right-hander Hildemaro Requena (2-1, 5.18) starts on the mound for the Drive, and the Fireflies are expected to send right-hander Zac Grotz (1-1, 4.50) to the mound.
~Greenville Drive~
