Melton and Clifford Homer in the Ninth; Tourists Down Dash 4-2

WINSTON-SALEM- The Asheville Tourists bounced back from a tough loss on Friday with an emotional win on Saturday night. The Tourists broke a 2-2 tie game with a pair of ninth inning solo Home Runs. Add in excellent pitching and Asheville ended up with a 4-2 victory.

Asheville plated the game’s first two runs in the top of the fourth. Logan Cerny scored on Ryan Clifford’s RBI single to left centerfield. Clifford later scored on an RBI single to right by Michael Sandle. Winston-Salem responded with a two-run Home Run in the bottom of the fourth; however, that was the only damage Tourists starting pitcher Joey Mancini allowed.

The two teams had to wait out a 45-minute power outage prior to the start of the fifth inning. That forced each team to go to their bullpen and Asheville brought in Miguel Ullola. The soon-to-be 21-year-old pitched his best game of the season. Ullola attacked the Dash offense inning after inning and ended up with five scoreless, hitless innings; including a perfect bottom of the ninth.

The game was still tied 2-2 entering the top of the ninth. Jacob Melton broke the tie with a one-out solo Home Run to right field. Two batters later, Clifford lined a solo Home Run over the right field wall to give the Tourists a 4-2 lead.

Sandle and Clifford each finished with three hits while Melton added a 2-for-5 performance. Asheville outhit Winston-Salem 11-4 and moved to 18-10 in games decided by two runs or less.