Shorebirds Bats Quiet in 4-1 Loss to Asheville

Salisbury, MD - Asheville Tourists (1-1) starter T.J. Oakes tossed a complete game three-hitter to lead the Tourists to a 4-1 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds (1-1) on Friday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Shorebirds did not record a hit between the second and seventh innings. 

Oakes allowed a lead off double by Lucas Herbst in the first inning and did not allow another hit until the eighth inning. He faced the minimum in seven of nine innings. 

Asheville struck first in the first inning. Max White reached first on a fielder's choice. With Rosell Herrera batting, White advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a passed ball. Then, Herrera hit an infield single behind the second base bag to score White. After a Tom Murphy single, Adrian Marin committed an error on a grounder to short, allowing Herrera to score. 

The Shorebirds responded in the bottom of the first. Herbst led off with a double off the first base and down the right field line. Herbst stole third and later scored on a groundout to second by Tucker Nathans to cut the deficit to 2-1. 

Asheville added to its lead in the fifth. With two outs, Juan Ciriaco stole third and scored on a sharp single to center field by Rosell Herrera. 

Shorebirds starter Matt Taylor yielded five hits over six innings and gave up just two earned runs. He struck out a career high eight batters and walked just one. 

In the eighth inning, Asheville tacked on an unearned run. With two outs, Murphy grounded up the middle and Marin fielded and threw over the dugout to advance Murphy to second. Then, Francisco Sosa singled to left field to plate Murphy. 

Matt Hobgood entered in the seventh inning and surrendered only three hits and one unearned run over three innings. 

The Shorebirds and Tourists play game three of the series on Saturday, June 22 at 7:05pm. RHP Parker Bridwell is the scheduled starter for Delmarva.