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7/7/09

Sand Gants 5, Greenville 1




Eric Beaulac (5-4, 2.67) worked five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts while the Sand Gnats benefited from three Drive errors in their, 5-1, series-clinching victory Tuesday at Fluor Field. Beaulac has now struck out 18 batters over his last 11 innings pitched.


It was a pitcher’s duel early on as the 22-year-old Beaulac and Drive starter Nick Hagadone, who is coming off of Tommy John surgery, battled through the first three innings. Hagadone left after three and did not allow a Savannah baserunner while striking out five.

The Gnats scored their first run just in time to catapult Beaulac into the win column as they scored an unearned run off reliever Mike Lee (1-3) in the top of the sixth. Jefry Marte walked to start the inning and moved to second on a Wilmer Flores single. With no one out and two on, Josh Satin singled through the left side but left-fielder Pete Hissey had the ball glance off the edge of his glove. The error by Hissey sent Marte scampering home and after 5.5 innings the Sand Gnats led, 1-0.

Savannah would blow it open in the top of the eighth with four unearned runs off Lee thanks to an error by third baseman Will Middlebrooks that would have ended the inning. Instead, the Georgia boys plated four runs on four hits to open up a, 5-0 lead. Greenville would score their only run of the game off reliever Manny Olivares in the eighth.

Kai Gronauer finished 1-for-4 with 2 RBI in the Gnats win while Raul Reyes chipped in a RBI-double. With the win, the Sand Gnats improve to 6-2 at Fluor Field and 8-4 over the Drive in 2009.

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