Drive Clinch First Half Title with Sunday's Win over Braves
Rome, GA - On a dramatic final day of the first half, the Greenville Drive took care of business on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Rome Braves 4-3 in a come-from-behind victory. The Drive win, coupled with a Columbia Fireflies loss in Charleston, gives the Drive the Southern Division first half title,
Rome, GA - On a dramatic final day of the first half, the Greenville Drive took care of business on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Rome Braves 4-3 in a come-from-behind victory.
The Drive win, coupled with a Columbia Fireflies loss in Charleston, gives the Drive the Southern Division first half title, and the team has clinched a South Atlantic League playoff berth for the first time since 2010.
With the score knotted up at three in the ninth inning,
Lovullo gave the Drive a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly to score Ryan Scott, who began the inning with a single and a stolen base.
The score remained there until the fifth, when Rome (38-32) scored a pair of runs to take the lead. Cristian Pache lined a game-tying single to right field, and Brett Cumberland followed with a sacrifice fly to make the score 2-1.
The Drive retook the lead in the eighth.
Cumberland wasted no time bringing the score back even, as he belted a solo homer leading off the eighth to tie the game at three.
Both starters took home no-decisions despite solid efforts.
Lovullo went 2-2 for Greenville on the afternoon. Pache, Kurt Hoekstra and Lucas Herbert each notched two hits for Rome.
The Drive will now enter the All-Star break having clinched their playoff spot, and five team representatives will take part in Tuesday's South Atlantic League All-Star Game in Columbia. Following the break, the Drive return to Fluor Field to begin a four-game series against the Charleston RiverDogs, a New York Yankees affiliate, on Thursday night at 7:05.