Greenville 5, Savannah 0

The Drive (36-32) did a little bit of everything Friday night, picking up their seventh shutout of the season with a 5-0 blanking of the Savannah Sand Gnats (39-28).  A balanced offensive attack, which included a pair of homers, and 6.0 shutout frames from Miguel Celestino (5-4) extended the team’s win streak to a season-high five games. The Drive’s offense took the lead in the first inning and there was no looking back from there.  Heiker Meneses hit a leadoff single, and then advanced to third on a throwing error by Savannah third baseman Aderlin Rodriguez on Miles Head’s batted ball. Meneses scored on a ground out by Brandon Jacobs, who drove in three of the five Drive runs.   Greenville scored again in the second inning when Drew Hedman scored on a triple by last night’s walk off hero, Lucas LeBlanc. Celestino had a fantastic night on the mound scattering five hits over his six scoreless innings. The 6’6” right-hander struck out four Sand Gnats and issued just one walk to Savannah. The Drive bullpen came in to pitch the last three innings and preserved the shutout victory for Greenville.  Juan Rodriguez was first out of the pen and allowed only two hits while striking out four batters in his two innings of work.  Rodriguez’s four strikeouts increased his South Atlantic League-leading strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio to 15.36. Justin Erasmus preserved the shutout despite having to retire the final two batters with the bases loaded. The victory guarantees the Drive will have an above .500 record for the first half of the season.  Greenville’s last three runs came via the long ball in the fourth and fifth innings. Drive centerfielder Henry Ramos hit a solo shot in the fourth inning, after making a spectacular diving catch in the top half of the third. Next inning Greenville capped its scoring for the night with a monster shot by left fielder Brandon Jacobs over the very wall he patrols in the field.   The Drive and Sand Gnats continue their series, which closes out the first half of the 2011 regular season, on Saturday with first pitch set for 7:05 PM from Fluor Field.  Right-hander Keith Couch (1-1, 3.48 ERA) will toe the rubber for Greenville while Savannah counters with right-hander Gonzalez Germen (5-2, 3.34 ERA). From team press release.