Lopez delivers clutch double in the eighth as Drive blank Hickory, 2-0

For the second straight night at Fluor Field, runs came at a premium. But just like the previous night\, the Drive would flash the winning runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Eduardo Lopez drove a two-out, two-run double off the top of the right field wall, just missing a homer, lifting the Greenville Drive (4-3, 30-43) to a 2-0 victory over the Hickory Crawdads (2-5, 30-43) on Scooby-Doo Night ™ at Fluor Field as the Drive donned special Scooby-Doo ™ jerseys.

In the eighth, the Drive put two aboard as Cutter Coffey knocked an infield single and Jhostynxon Garcia slapped a sharp liner to left field. Bryan Gonzalez moved the runners to scoring position with a groundout before Miguel Ugueto appeared to put the Drive in front with a sharp single to shortstop Cam Cauley. But Garcia collided with Cauley, forcing a runner’s interference call making Garcia automatically out and forcing Coffey back to third.

It would not matter however as Eduardo Lopez smoked a deep fly off the top of the right field wall that nearly left the park by mere inches. It bounced back into the glove of right fielder Yeison Morrobel who quickly fired the ball to the cutoff man. The throw at the plate was late, allowing a diving Ugueto to score from first and put the Drive up 2-0.

Reidis Sena closed out the ninth, fanning two to pick up his third win of the season and preserve the Drive’s 2-0 victory.

Much like the previous night, the game belonged to pitching as both starters cruised. Dalton Rogers put together his second-straight five inning performance, holding Hickory to just two hits and walked with four strikeouts.

Joseph Montalvo, the highly regarded prospect for the Texas Rangers, spun 4 ⅓ innings, allowing five hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Jeremy Wu-Yelland stifled the Crawdads in two innings of work, picking up two strikeouts; the only base runner against him coming on a throwing error in the seventh by Cutter Coffey.

The win marked the third win in four games for the Drive and their second blanking of the Crawdads this season.

The Drive return to action on Saturday, June 29th at Fluor Field for game five of the six-game homestand with Hickory Crawdads. The Drive hold a 3-1 lead in the series and have earned at least a split of the week’s action.