Patience and Piggyback Starters Help Hub City to First Win in Greenville

Hanson and Perich homers plate four of six runs

By Hub City Spartanburgers

April 30, 2026

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Thursday’s game between the Spartanburgers (10-13) and the Drive (13-11) saw more walks than hits. In the end, Hub City capitalized on its free passes to pick up a 6-2 win over Greenville in the third game of the series. While the patient offense tested Greenville’s pitches, Spartanburgers’ piggyback starters kept the Drive in check. Enrique Segura and Brock Porter combined for 7 1/3 innings of two-run baseball.

The ‘Burgers worked 10 walks, a season high, and two others found their way onto first after being hit by pitches. Hub City only needed five hits in the win.

With runners on the corners in the top of the first inning, Greenville starter Kyson Witherspoon committed a disengagement violation with a third pickoff to bring in the first run of the game. After a collision in the field allowed a Yoeilin Cespedes double to drop, the Drive tied the game with a Gerardo Rodriguez sacrifice fly against the Hub City starter, Segura.

An out into the second inning, Witherspoon walked a pair of batters. Luke Hanson made him pay with a three-run homer clocked over the center field wall. Hanson launched his first professional home run last night; he’s now the third Spartanburger to homer in back-to-back games.

The Drive stuck a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third thanks to a bases-loaded walk. Segura stranded a pair in the fourth before Porter (W, 3-0) took his place. The former fourth-round pick maneuvered around six total baserunners to toss 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

In the fifth, Rafe Perich caught a hold of a Steven Brooks fastball and crushed it over the left-field wall for his first home run of the year. Perich finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Hub City plated one more insurance run in the seventh thanks to an RBI single from Ben Hartl. Cole Stasio put a cap on the game with the final 1 2/3 scoreless innings, snapping a four-game losing streak.

J’Briell Easley (0-0, 3.52 ERA) gets the start Friday for Hub City as the ‘Burgers try for back-to-back wins at Fluor Field. Greenville right-hander Anthony Eyanson (0-0, 0.54 ERA) is scheduled to throw the first pitch at 6:45 p.m. ET. The Spartanburgers’ next home series begins May 5. The Wilmington Blue Rocks, High-A farm club of the Washington Nationals, are in town. Tuesday is Arturo Disla bobblehead night; tickets are available online at hubcityspartanburgers.com/tickets.

About the Hub City Spartanburgers

The Hub City Spartanburgers are the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and the reigning South Atlantic League South Division Champions. For more information on the Spartanburgers, visit milb.com/hub-city. For information about tickets to any of Hub City’s 66 home games, call 864-594-0701 or email: [email protected]. For media inquiries, email: [email protected]. Follow along with the Spartanburgers on social media.