Tourists Defeat Drive in Extras

Asheville, NC - A wild series opener between the Greenville Drive and Asheville Tourists on Monday needed extra innings to complete, and the Tourists were able to walk off with an 11-10 victory in the bottom of the tenth.
The Tourists (16-25) wasted little time bringing in the winning run after beginning the frame with a runner on second, as a single by Hidekel Gonzalez was followed by a walkoff single from Brett Stephens off Juan Florentino (3-1).

The tone for the offensive slugfest was set early, as the Drive (10-32) plated three runs in the top of the first. Zach Sterry delivered a two-run double in the frame, and he came in to score on a wild pitch.
Undaunted by the early deficit, the Tourists tagged Hildemaro Requena for eight runs in the bottom half of the inning. Chad Spanberger's three-run homer was the big blow of the frame, which also included RBI hits from Casey Golden, Ryan Vilade and Bret Boswell.
The Drive slowly but steadily began to come back in the second. RBI hits from Frankie Rios and Victor Acosta trimmed the Asheville lead to 8-5.
The Tourists extended the lead to 9-5 in the fourth, but a Marino Campana solo homer got that run back for the Drive in the top of the fifth. Later in the inning, Kervin Suarez blasted a two-run home run to get Greenville to within a run at 9-8.
The score remained there until the ninth, when Everlouis Lozada ripped a go-ahead two run double to score Acosta and Michael Osinski, who each singled. Just one strike away from victory in the bottom half of the ninth, the lead disappeared when Ramon Marcelino cracked a solo homer to right to tie the game.
In a 17-hit performance, the Drive saw seven players notch multi-hit nights. Acosta and Cedrola delivered three hits each, while Campana, Osinski, Rios, Sterry and Suarez added two hits apiece.
A pair of Drive relief pitchers shined in defeat as well. Angel Padron relieved Requena in the second and allowed just one unearned run on one hit in four innings, and Dominic LoBrutto added a pair of scoreless innings.
Tuesday's contest between the same teams in Asheville is scheduled for a 7:05 PM first pitch. Right-hander Denyi Reyes (3-3, 2.76) will take the mound for the Drive against Tourists right-hander Antonio Santos (0-5, 4.44).
~Greenville Drive~