Drive Drop Series Opener to Spartanburgers, Fall Back into Division Tie

Drive Drop Series Opener to Spartanburgers, Fall Back into Division Tie

Spartanburg, S.C. — The Greenville Drive (58–57) opened their six-game set with the Hub City Spartanburgers (56–58) on Tuesday afternoon by stumbling out of the gate and never recovering in a 6–1 loss at Fifth Third Park. The defeat, coupled with Hub City’s win, drops Greenville back into a tie with the Spartanburgers for first place in the South Atlantic League South Division’s second-half standings.

After a two-hour, thirteen-minute weather delay before the first pitch, the Spartanburgers broke the game open with three runs in the third inning and added two more in the fourth, quickly building a cushion Greenville couldn’t dent.

Drive starter Luis Cohen (1–1) labored through 4.1 innings, yielding nine hits, six runs (all earned), and two walks while striking out two. A balk in the third inning proved costly, moving Anthony Gutierrez into scoring position before Malcolm Moore’s RBI single plated the first run of the game. John Taylor followed with a triple into the gap, scoring Moore, and Casey Cook’s infield single pushed the lead to 3–0.

An inning later, the Spartanburgers kept the pressure on. Arturo Disla drew a walk and later stole second before Antonis Macias and Dylan Dreiling delivered back-to-back hits. Disla crossed the plate on Dreiling’s single, and Gutierrez added a sacrifice fly to left, bringing home Macias for a 5–0 lead.

The Drive’s lone breakthrough came in the fifth when Johanfran Garcia singled and Freili Encarnacion followed with an infield knock. After a flyout and lineout, Albert Feliz laced a base hit to left-center to bring Garcia home. Feliz’s RBI was his 24th of the season, but it would prove to be Greenville’s only run.

Hub City immediately answered in the bottom half. Cook doubled and stole third before scoring on a groundout by Rafe Perich to restore the five-run cushion at 6–1.

From there, the Spartanburg bullpen locked things down. Starter Dylan MacLean (4–1) earned the win with five solid innings, holding Greenville to three hits and one run while fanning three. Relievers Case Matter, Mailon Felix, and Thomas Ireland combined to cover the final four frames, yielding just one hit and a walk.

Greenville’s best chance to claw back came in the eighth when Justin Riemer walked and Franklin Arias ripped a double into center, putting runners at second and third with two outs. But Spartanburg’s defense held firm as Nelly Taylor lined out sharply to right field, stranding both runners.

Offensively, the Drive mustered just four hits — a double from Arias and singles by Garcia, Encarnacion, and Feliz. The Spartanburgers, meanwhile, pounded out 10 hits, highlighted by multi-hit games from Moore (2-for-4, RBI), Taylor (2-for-4, triple, RBI), and Cook (3-for-4, two RBI, two stolen bases).

Despite the lopsided start to the series, Greenville still controls its own destiny in the tightly packed second-half race. With five games remaining in the set, the Drive will look to rebound quickly and reclaim sole possession of the division lead.

The series continues Wednesday evening at Fifth Third Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.