Tourists Come Up Just Short in Series Finale

Loperfido Collects Three Hits; Borden II goes Deep

By Doug Maurer

April 16, 2023

GREENVILLE- The Asheville Tourists continued their early season theme of late comebacks; however, on Sunday afternoon Asheville came up one run short. Trailing by three, the Tourists scored once in the seventh and once more in the eighth. The Greenville Drive did not let Asheville rally in the ninth and

GREENVILLE- The Asheville Tourists continued their early season theme of late comebacks; however, on Sunday afternoon Asheville came up one run short. Trailing by three, the Tourists scored once in the seventh and once more in the eighth. The Greenville Drive did not let Asheville rally in the ninth and the Tourists fell 4-3.

Greenville built a 2-0 lead with a run in each of the first two innings. Zach Dezenzo gave Asheville their first run with a two-out RBI single in the third that plated Drew Gilbert. The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth when the Drive pushed across two big insurance runs.

Tim Borden II hit a solo Home Run to straight-away centerfield in the seventh. Joey Loperfido and Miguel Palma both doubled in the eighth to bring the Tourists to within a run. Unfortunately, Palma’s hit would be the last Asheville player to reach base in the contest.

Edinson Batista (0-2) suffered a tough luck loss after battling through five innings. Batista struck out seven. A.J. Blubaugh pitched the final three innings and the right-hander retired the last seven hitters he faced.

The Tourists and the Drive settled for series split; each team won three games. Next up for Asheville is an off day followed by a six-game home series vs. the Winston-Salem Dash.