Drive pitcher's debut silences Hoppers offense

Dariel Lopez collects three of Hoppers' five hits against Greenville

Greensboro Grasshoppers infielder Dariel Lopez. (Derrick Brady/bcookmedia)

By Jeff Mills

July 10, 2022

GREENSBORO ― Winning pitcher Tyler Uberstine struck out 10 in his debut for Greenville, leading the Drive to a 7-1 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at First National Bank Field on Saturday night. Uberstine (1-0) allowed two hits and a walk in 5⅓ innings, striking out 10 in a dominant

GREENSBORO ― Winning pitcher Tyler Uberstine struck out 10 in his debut for Greenville, leading the Drive to a 7-1 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at First National Bank Field on Saturday night.

Uberstine (1-0) allowed two hits and a walk in 5⅓ innings, striking out 10 in a dominant debut since his promotion Wednesday from Salem of the Low-A Carolina League.

The right-hander from Northwestern University, who throws from a three-quarters arm slot, was making just his 20th appearance since being drafted in the 19th round last year. He mixed a low-90s mph fastball along with a slider and cutter ― all with high spin rates and late movement ― to keep the Hoppers’ hitters off balance.

Greensboro’s Dariel Lopez went 3-for-4 with a double and run scored ― two of those hits coming against Drive relievers ― and Hudson Head hit an RBI single in the seventh inning to cut Greenville’s lead to 5-1.

Luke Brown’s double was the Hoppers’ only other hit of the night.

Right-hander Justin Meis (1-2) took the loss. He used a good slider to strike out six in 4⅔ effective innings, but he gave up a three-run home run on his 88th and final pitch of the game.

The Hoppers (34-45 overall, 7-7 second half) lead the six-game series with the Drive 3-2. A victory in Sunday’s finale would give Greensboro its first series win of the South Atlantic League season.

NOTES

Shortstop Dariel Lopez hit his 12th double of the season. Lopez has hit safely in 22 of his last 24 games, going 38-for-102 (.373) with six home runs, six doubles, 20 RBIs and 21 runs scored. He has 12 multi-hit games in that span.
Designated hitter Endy Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with a walks. He has hit safely in 23 of his last 28 games, going 28-for-84 (.333) with 10 doubles, three home runs, 19 RBIs and 16 runs scored. The versatile 22-year-old is rated by MLB Pipeline as Pittsburgh's No. 7 prospect, and he has played four positions ― catcher, first base, second base and left field ― this season.
In 23 games since June 1, utility player Ernny Ordoñez has gone 24-for-91 (.264) with eight home runs, six doubles and 25 RBIs.

In his career at the News & Record, journalist Jeff Mills won 10 national and 12 state writing awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, and the N.C. Press Association.