Sandle Smacks Three Hits in 7-3 Loss

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists fell to the Winston-Salem Dash on Thursday night, 7-3, in front of the home crowd. Asheville did well to hang in the game throughout and forced Winston-Salem to strand 13 runners on base.

Michael Sandle led the way with three hits, two of which were doubles. The Dash took a 2-0 lead with a run in the second and another in the third. Zach Daniels made it 2-1 with a two-out solo shot in the bottom of the fourth. After Cristian Gonzalez reached on a walk, Nerio Rodriguez lined a single into left field and Gonzalez raced around to score after a Dash fielding error.

The game was tied 2-2, but not for very long. Winston-Salem scored two in the fifth and added two more in the seventh. The two teams traded runs in the eighth.

Asheville’s pitching staff issued a season-high 11 walks and Winston-Salem’s top ranked offensive unit pounded out 12 hits. Despite committing three errors, the Tourists defense made a handful of big plays. Asheville threw out two runners at home plate and caught two Dash runners attempting to steal.

Winston-Salem leads the current series two games to one. Game Four is scheduled for Friday night at 6:35pm ET.