Asheville bats come through early in home opening win

ASHEVILLE, NC - The Asheville Tourists kicked off the home season with an exciting 6-2 win over the Greenville Drive on Tuesday night at McCormick Field.

Gaining a big lead early, the Tourists (2-2) were all over the Drive’s (1-3) starting pitcher, Payton Tolle (0-1).
Starting a two-out rally with a Garret Guillemette walk, Asheville powered in a run with a Walker Janek single, Chase Jaworsky hit-by-pitch, and Alejandro Nunez RBI base-on-balls.

Up 1-0 in the second, the Tourists rallied for five more runs. With the bases loaded and no one out, Tolle balked in a run. Guillemette then stepped to the dish and launched a three-run homer over the left-field wall to make it 5-0.

Janek kept the train moving, immediately following with a double. He then stole third, and Jaworsky brought him in with a sacrifice fly.
While Asheville didn’t score after the second, they were backed by excellent pitching throughout the whole game for the first time this season.

Right-hander Anderson Brito pitched four shutout innings as the starter while striking out six. Out of the bullpen, Derek True (1-0) tossed four quality frames, giving up one run. Matthew Linskey polished off the ninth, allowing a run but striking out one and nailing home the win.

Asheville’s line totaled six runs on eight hits with one error. While they were outslugged by Greenville’s 11 hits, the Drive went two-for-14 with runners in scoring position, stranding 14 and committing one error.

Leading the bats, Janek and Nunez each had two-hit nights. Guillemette totaled a team-high three RBIs.

Looking to keep momentum rolling for tomorrow, the Tourists will be back in action against Greenville for Game 2 of the series with a 6:35 p.m. ET first pitch.