How Sweep It Is! Drive Win Sixth Straight Over Tourists, 11-7

The Greenville Drive gained their first series sweep of the season with an 11-7 victory over the Asheville Tourists. This is the Drive’s fourth series win of the year. The Drive improves to 45-54, while the Tourists falls to 33-68. In the second-half standings, Greenville is now 19-17, while Asheville is 16-20.

Justin Thomas Jr.'s leadoff homer in the first put Asheville ahead early against Greenville’s starter Matt Duffy. Enddy Azocar responded with a two-run homer in the third, 2-1, but Caden Powell did the same with a two-run shot of his own in the bottom half to steal back the lead, 2-3.

The ball couldn’t stay within the outfield walls after Maximus Martin sent another out to bring three runs across for the Drive, 5-3, in the fourth. Duffy cut off his first start in the fourth as well, pitching 3.2 innings with a season-high six strikeouts before Adam Bates came in as relief. The furthest Duffy has thrown in a Drive game.

The Tourists battled back in the fifth, starting with a bases-loaded walk and ending with a bases-clearing double from Kyle Walker, 7-5.

The Drive put together a four-spot inning themselves in the seventh on a bases-clearing triple from Jake Schaffner and an RBI double by Gerardo Rodriguez, 9-7.

An RBI double and single by Owen Hull and Ronny Hernandez, respectively, put a bow on the scoring. A 1-2-3 ninth for Calvin Bickerstaff clinched an 11-7 win for the Drive.

Another 11-run game for the Drive put them at 65 total runs over the course of this six-game series. They finished with 11 hits to match, going 5-for-9 in scoring position and leaving four runners on. Hull went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a double, while Azocar went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Martin and Schaffner drove in six runs combined, each with three RBIs.

Asheville managed eight hits, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight on base. Walker's bases-clearing double gave him the most RBIs in the lineup, and John Garcia had the only multihit night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Matt McShane relieved Bates and earned the win, allowing nothing and striking out a pair over nine batters. Bickerstaff left with his first save of the season, allowing just two hits in two innings.

Asheville’s reliever Jackson Wells was charged with the loss and blown save, surrendering three runs on four hits in his two innings of work.

The Greenville Drive journeys back home to begin a six-game homestand versus the Hudson Valley Renegades starting Tuesday with first pitch at 6:45 PM. It will be the Drive’s 11th annual Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Night at Fluor Field.