Langford Strong in his First Tourists Start

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists dropped a tough contest to the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Saturday night by a final of 4-1. Asheville held Bowling Green’s offense to only two hits in the game; however, the Hot Rods plated a couple unearned runs and held the Tourists bats in check.

Asheville’s starting pitcher, Colby Langford, pitched very well in his South Atlantic League debut. The left-hander went four innings, allowed one hit, and struck out six. Langford was saddled with the tough-luck loss despite allowing only one earned run.

Nic Swanson pitched four innings out of the bullpen, his first relief appearance of the season, and surrendered just one earned run as well. Swanson did not allow a hit and struck out six. Swanson leads the Tourists pitching staff with 90 strikeouts on the season.

Offensively, the Tourists were held to five hits; two singles by Luis Encarnacion, a double by Narbe Cruz, a single by Anthony Sherwin, and a solo Home Run in the ninth inning by Garret Guillemette. The blast was Garret’s eighth of the year and snapped a 14-inning scoreless drought.

Both teams are in store for a quick turnaround with the series finale scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1:05pm ET.