Mata, Cedrola Pave Way to Drive Victory

A stellar first home start for Bryan Mata and a tremendous day at the plate for Lorenzo Cedrola helped lead the Greenville Drive to a 7-1 win over the Rome Braves on Wednesday at Fluor Field.

Mata (1-0), who is 18 as of 4 weeks ago, pitched six innings against Rome (30-23) and only surrendered four hits and one earned run. He complemented his solid start with six strikeouts to obtain a win for the Drive (32-20).
The Braves got on the board first in the second inning as Rome's cleanup hitter Brett Cumberland smacked a double down the right field line, and Ramon Osuna knocked him in with a 1-out double. Mata was able to settle down after those hits, and the Braves only notched two more hits off of him for the rest of the game.
Rome was threatening in the top of the sixth inning when Randy Ventura led off the inning with a single and Justin Ellison drew a walk. However, Mata was able to battle back by getting three consecutive batters out, including a pair of strikeouts.
Cedrola, the Drive leadoff hitter, was the key to Greenville's offensive productivity. He led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and after surviving a near pickoff, the hits started to come. Ryan Scott got an infield single up the middle, and Cedrola turned on the jets and scored from second.
Following Scott's stolen base, Tyler Hill singled to left to plate Scott and take the lead. Tucker Tubbs then added another run to make the Drive's lead 3-1 when he hit a bloop single to right, and Hill hustled around from first to score.
Cedrola wasn't just a table setter on Wednesday, as he smoked a ball onto the Green Monster with two runners in the bottom of the seventh to put the Drive up 6-1.
The Drive added a final insurance run in the bottom of the eighth due to a two-out RBI single from Tyler Spoon.
Rome's starter Ryan Lawlor (3-1) threw five and two-thirds and struck out 9 batters in the loss.
This win splits the 4-game series between the Drive and Braves and keeps them ahead of the Braves by 2.5 games in the southern division of the South Atlantic League.
The homestand continues on Thursday night as the Drive welcome the Charleston RiverDogs, a New York Yankees affiliate, to town in the renewal of the Battle of the Palmetto State Rivalry Series presented by Spinx. Drive left-hander Robby Sexton (0-5, 5.12) will throw the first pitch at 7:05 PM, and the RiverDogs will start right-hander Nick Green (3-3, 3.02).