Drive Fall 4-2 to Savannah in Season Finale
Greenville, SC - An outstanding year at Fluor Field for the Greenville Drive came to an unfortunate conclusion, as the Drive dropped Monday's game 4-2 to the Savannah Sand Gnats. With the loss, the Drive were eliminated from South Atlantic League playoff contention on the season's final day.
The Drive (34-36, 72-68) showed their fight all the way through the final out. Michael Chavis began the ninth with a single and moved to third on a double by Rafael Devers. Andrew Benintendi then drove home Chavis with a groundout, and Danny Mars singled to plate Devers. The Drive would later load the bases to put the game-winning run on base, but a groundout ended the game.
Savannah (45-22, 84-53) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning against Jalen Beeks (9-7) when Michael Katz drew a one-out walk and later scored on a single by Natanael Ramos.
Two more runs in the fifth extended that lead to 3-0 thanks to a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Johnson and a Drive error.
The support was enough for Sand Gnats starter Corey Oswalt (11-5), who shut out the Drive over six innings and allowing only four hits with a pair of strikeouts. Ben Griset got the final out of the game to notch his first save.
A fielder's choice in the top of the ninth gave the Sand Gnats a crucial insurance run.
Devers had two hits in the game to lead the Greenville offense. Ramos and Tomas Nido led the Sand Gnats offense with two hits.
Monday's game concluded the Drive's 10th Anniversary season at Fluor Field, and it was another successful season in Downtown Greenville, both on the field and in the stands. The Drive roster featured 11 of Boston's top 30 prospects at various points of the year, and the final record of 72-68 was the best record since 2011.
The Drive also welcomed 346,828 fans through the Fluor Field gates for the 68 home dates in the 2015 season, an average of around 5,100 fans per date.
The Greenville Drive would like to thank the players, coaches, fans, sponsors and media who helped make the 2015 10th Anniversary season at Fluor Field the best year yet, and the countdown officially begins for the 2016 season.