Greenville 5, Savannah 4

The Drive (37-32) continued to roll before heading into the South Atlantic League’s mid-season All-Star break, coming up with a 5-4 victory Saturday night at Fluor Field over the Savannah Sand Gnats (39-29).   The win extended Greenville’s season long win streak to six games.  The Sand Gnats would strike first putting a run on the board in the second inning. Rafael Fernandez led-off the inning with a double to right and was able to take third on error by right fielder Lucas LeBlanc. He would score two batters later on a groundout to short to put the Sand Gants ahead 1-0.  The Drive would answer in a big way in the fourth. Second basemen Sean Coyle led-off the inning with a solo homerun, his sixth of the season, to tie the game at one. Miles Head followed with a double before advancing to third on a wild pitch. After a Brandon Jacobs walk put runners on the corners, Christian Vazquez doubled to plate Head and give the Drive a 2-1 lead. Henry Ramos would then ground out to second to bring in Jacobs and up the Drive’s lead to 3-1.  Xander Bogaerts would provide the biggest blow of the inning by sending his first homerun with the Drive, a two-run shot to left-center, to give Greenville a 5-1 lead. Savannah responded by adding a run of their own in the top half of the fifth. Albert Cordero walked to begin the inning and then was able to advance to second on a balk. After a flyout to center, Alonzo Harris doubled to plate Cordero and cut the Drive’s to 5-2. The run scored by Cordero was the first earned run allowed by a Drive starting pitcher at home in 20 and 2/3 innings.  The Sand Gnats would edge even closer in the seventh inning. Joe Bonfe reached and then moved to second on an error by the shortstop. After a strikeout, Darrell Ceciliani singled to short to put runners on first and second with one out.  Wilfredo Tovar would then hit a grounder to third on which Drive third-basemen Heiker Meneses attempted to turn a double play. Ceciliani would be forced out at second but Tovar would reach on fielder’s choice and take second on a bad throw by the shortstop, which also allowed Bonfe to score and make the score 5-3. Tovar would score on the batter as Cory Vaughn singled to make the score 5-4. Drive pitching would keep the Snad Gnats hitters at bay in the final two innings to seal the 5-4 victory. Couch (2-1) earned the win by going 5.0 innings and allowing just two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out six and walking one. Ryan Fraser (4-5) took the loss for Savannah by giving up five runs on five hits in five innings pitched.  Garrett Rau picked up his second save of the year with a scoreless ninth. The Drive will look for their first sweep of 2011 in the final game of the first half of the regular season, with Sunday’s first pitch set for 4:05 PM.  Right-hander Brandon Workman (2-4, 4.10 ERA) will toe the rubber for Greenville, while Savannah counters with right-hander Gonzalez Germen (5-2, 3.34 ERA). Following tomorrow’s game in celebration of Father’s Day, dad’s and their children will be able to play catch in the Fluor Field outfield.  For more information regarding single-game tickets, luxury accommodations, group outings, and ticket plan packages call (864) 240-4500 or visit www.GreenvilleDrive.com.  GAME NOTES:  Attendance was 5,529…Savannah’s run in the top of the 5th was the first earned run allowed by a Greenville starting pitcher at Fluor Field in 20.2 innings…Xander Bogaerts extended his hit streak to 6 games…22 of Sean Coyle’s 33 hits on the season have gone for extra bases – 11 doubles, 5 triples, 6 homers - from Drive press release