Tourists Make a Statement to Open Up the Homestand

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists made a statement on Tuesday night in their 13-5 victory over the Aberdeen IronBirds. Asheville dominated Aberdeen in both hitting and pitching with an output of 15 base hits and a pitching staff mark of 16 strikeouts.

The damage began in the bottom of the first. The Tourists scored four runs on four hits and a walk. Joe Perez clubbed a two-run double to left-centerfield, Enmanuel Valdez added an RBI single to right, and Alex Holderbach drove in a run with a sac fly.

Alex McKenna made it 5-0 with a line drive, solo Home Run in the second. After Aberdeen managed a run in the top of the third, Holderbach countered for Asheville with a two-run single in the bottom half. Scott Schreiber joined the RBI party with a run-scoring single in fourth. The trend continued when Freudis Nova and Matt Barefoot both plated runs in the fifth.

The IronBirds used a pair of two-run Home Runs to hang around; however, Asheville added to their offensive output in the eighth. Schreiber, Valdez, and Holderbach all drove in a run to give the Tourists the eight-run advantage. Holderbach finished with a game-high four RBI.

The Tourists pitching trio of Jose Bravo, Juan Pablo Lopez, and Devin Conn totaled 16 strikeouts on the night. Lopez earned the win and had a season-high eight strikeouts. Conn put the game away by retiring all four batters he faced.

Schreiber led the way offensively with three hits and two walks. McKenna, Barefoot, Perez, Valdez, and Holderbach all had multi-hit nights. The Tourists have won their last two ballgames by their two largest margins of victory this season; nine and eight runs respectively.