Drive no-hit by Emperors in 2-1 loss

The Rome Emperors (21-27, 57-55) pitching quartet of Mitch Farris, Shay Schanaman, Samuel Strickland, and Ryan Bourassa combined to no-hit the Greenville Drive (29-21, 55-61) Wednesday night at Fluor Field, a month and ten days after the Drive no-hit the Emperors at AdventHealth Stadium back on July 11th.

Ironically, a Drive trio of pitchers (Yordanny Monegro, Cooper Adams, and Isaac Stebens), tossed a no-hitter back on August 1st marking a no-hitter for and a no-hitter against in the same month.

Bryan Gonzalez walked with one away in the ninth and stood on first as Bourassa delivered the final pitch of the game, one that would be shot back to first baseman Drew Compton who snagged the liner on a leaping grab, landed and doubled-off Gonzalez to preserve the no-hitter.

Farris tossed four innings with five walks and four strikeouts, while Schanaman and Strickland tossed two innings each with a pair of strikeouts a piece as Bourassa closed out the final frame.

Though the Drive picked up no hits, they picked up one run as Zach Ehrhard chipped in a sac-fly to deep center score Justin Riemer who walked earlier in the inning as well made it third on a groundout from Mikey Romero and a wild pitch.

Noah Dean, coming off his best start in High-A the week prior, spun 3 ⅓ innings for the Drive. He struck out the five of the first seven batters he faced, finishing with six strikeouts on the night; his night ending as he reached his pitch count.

Dean walked five on the night however, including two straight to start the third which came back to bite him. Drew Compton chipped in the sac-fly to knot the game at 1-1. Dean exited in the fourth in favor of Jedixson Paez.

Both teams were held hitless through four innings until Mac Guscette delivered a single for the Emperors. Paez struggled in the inning, hitting Kevin Kilpatick Jr. with a pitch before Drew Compton drove in Guscette on a single to left field to put Rome in front 2-1.

Paez recovered, working 4 ⅔ innings total for the Drive allowing two hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Gabriel Jackson pitched the final frame for the Drive.

The Drive return to action tomorrow for game three of the six-game series with Rome. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. The series is tied, 1-1.