GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Greenville Drive rallied to down the Kannapolis Intimidators, 11-8, in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader, before pounding out 12 runs on 14 hits in game two to clinch the series.Resuming Monday night's contest in the third inning with the Drive leading 2-0, Greenville plated five runs
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Greenville Drive rallied to down the Kannapolis Intimidators, 11-8, in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader, before pounding out 12 runs on 14 hits in game two to clinch the series.
Resuming Monday night's contest in the third inning with the Drive leading 2-0, Greenville plated five runs on three hits in the bottom half to open a 7-0 lead over the Intimidators. After back-to-back one-out walks by Devlin Granberg and Jordan Wren, Triston Casas reached base on a dropped third strike and Kole Cottam, Brandon Howlett, and Jonathan Ortega turned in three-straight hits to plate four of the five runs. Grant Williams then reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Ortega to score to cap off Greenville's monster inning.
Kannapolis then mounted a four-inning rally, turning in a run in the fourth, two in the fifth, three in the sixth and two in the seventh, to come all the way back and grab an 8-7 lead. In the top of the seventh, Alex Destino drew a one-out walk, Bryce Bush doubled, and Corey Zangari tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Romy Gonzalez then doubled home the go-ahead run to give the Intimidators the 8-7 advantage at the stretch.
In the bottom of the eighth, Wren reached base for the third time in the game on a single to right with one out, before Casas tripled to plate the tying run. After Howlett was hit with a two-strike, two-out pitch, Ortega put a ball on top of the Green Monster to give the Drive the 11-8 lead.
Yorvin Pantoja (5-2) earned the win, throwing 2.1 innings in relief and allowing just one hit, no walks, and three strikeouts, including the final two batters of the game. Tyler Watson (0-1) was tagged with the loss, throwing an inning of relief but allowing four runs on three hits.
In game two, Greenville scored in each of the first four innings to jump out to an 8-0 lead, before Kannapolis plated two runs in the top of the sixth to break up the shutout.
The Drive took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, after Wren singled home the first run of the game following a double by Everlouis Lozada. In the second, Howlett was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom half, Tyler Dearden doubled, and Williams singled to plate two runs to push the lead to 3-0. Lozada turned in his second double of the day to move Williams to third, before a Granberg groundout plated the third run of the inning, giving the Drive a 4-0 lead after two.
Catcher Alan Marrero launched his sixth home run of the year in the bottom of the third, then Lozada turned in his third hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth, plating Hardy who led off the inning with a single, then went first to third on a wild pitch. The Drive then loaded the bases, Marrero reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second on the Intimidators' second error of the inning, allowing two more runs to score, pushing the Greenville lead to 8-0 after four complete.
Johan Cruz singled to lead off the top of the sixth for Kannapolis, recording the Intimidators' first hit since the second inning. Amando Nunez followed with a single, then a wild pitch and two-straight groundouts ended the Drive shutout, as Kannapolis cut the lead to 8-2. In the bottom half, a Granberg triple followed by a Wren single pushed the lead back to seven at 9-2, before Casas sent a 375-foot homer over the right-field fence, giving Greenville an 11-2 lead. The Drive continued its offensive outpouring, as Howlett turned in the club's 14th hit of the night to score Marrero and push the lead to 12-2. Kannapolis then brought leftfielder Alex Destino in in relief, who retired the final two batters of the inning.
Kannapolis got one back in the top of the seventh following a one-out triple, but Shugart used a strikeout and a ground out to end the game, preserving the 12-3 win.
Shugart (3-0) turned in his second-straight strong outing, allowing three runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks in a complete game (seven innings).
Kannapolis starter Davis Martin (4-7) suffered the loss, allowing eight runs on ten hits with three strikeouts.
Offensively, every batter in the Greenville lineup recorded a hit in game two, led by Lozada with a 3-for-4 night that included two doubles and an RBI. Wren scored two runs, added two hits and two RBI, while Casas turned in two hits and two RBI on his sixth inning home run.
The Drive close out the series against the Intimidators on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m.
