Cole Brannen singled to right to score Jonathan Ortega from third with one out in the 10th inning to give the Greenville Drive the 4-3 victory in the series finale against the Delmarva Shorebirds.
The teams split the four-game series.
In the 10th, Ortega started the inning on second base and Grant Williams moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt. Brannen then lined a 3-2 pitch to right to bring in Ortega from third and give the Drive victory.
Delmarva opened the scoring with a run in the second inning. Nick Horvath singled to left, moved to second on an error by the left fielder and later scored on a fielder’s choice to put the Shorebirds in front 1-0.
Greenville claimed the lead with three runs in the fifth. Devlin Granberg doubled and Alan Marrero singled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Brandon Howlett followed with a double to left to score Granberg and two batters later Ortega singled to right to bring in Marrero. Williams then scored Howlett with an RBI groundout to second, giving the Drive a 3-1 lead.
Delmarva added lone runs in the sixth and eighth innings to tie the game at 3-3. Back-to-back singles from J.C. Encarnacion and Ryne Ogren in the sixth put runners on the corners with two outs, before a wild pitch allowed Encarnacion to score. Seamus Curran then tied it with a lead-off, solo home run in the eighth.
Yorvin Pantoja (4-2) earned the win, working a scoreless 10th inning with two walks and a strikeout. Matt Hammonds (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing the walk-off single in the 10th.
Drive starter Chase Shugart allowed just one run on five hits in 5.0 innings pitched with one walk and one strikeout in his first start at Fluor Field. Granberg led the Drive offense going 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, a walk and a run, while Marrero went 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Howlett added an RBI double in the win.
Visit the Greenville Drive website to view the upcoming schedule and purchase game tickets.