Bryan Gonzalez barreled up a two-out, three-run go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth, capping the Greenville Drive’s (22-35) eight-run comeback as they downed the Hickory Crawdads (25-32), 10-9 on Sunday afternoon in Hickory.
Entering the seventh inning, the Drive trailed 9-2 seemingly headed for another loss and on their way to being the victim of a six-game sweep. But as with the Sunday before, the Drive rallied in the late innings, avoiding the sweep and stunning another opponent.
Cutter Coffey was 3-for-5 at the plate with a homer and two RBI, the latter RBI kick starting the Drive rally in the seventh as he grooved a two-out single to center field.
Jhostynxon Garcia smacked a solo homer to lead off the eighth, drawing the game to 9-4. After Juan Chacon walked, and a wild pitch moved him to third, Luis Ravelo smacked an RBI-single and later came around to score via two wild pitches and a Ahbram Liendo single, making it 9-6.
The comeback looked bleak in the ninth as Coffey went down on strikes to lead off the inning and Ronald Rosario flew out. But Garcia drew a four-pitch walk and Chacon reached on a throwing error that allowed Garcia to get to third. Ravelo added another RBI-single before Gonzalez knocked his go-ahead homer five pitches later, putting Greenville up 10-9.
Reliever Adam Smith earned his second win of the season, sending down all three Crawdads batters in the bottom of the ninth, the final two on swinging strikeouts. He tossed 2.1 innings on the day, allowing a lone hit.
The Drive’s 9-2 deficit largely came early as the Crawdads got to starter Dalton Rogers. He tossed 2.2 frames on the day, allowing four runs on five hits with four walks and five strikeouts. He’d give up two runs in the first on a Luis Mieses groundball to Ravelo which Ravelo botched on the throw giving Hickory the 2-0 lead.
Coffey cut the lead to 2-1 in the third on a grounder into a force out, scoring Mikey Romero. That 2-1 deficit would be the closest Greenville would get until they finally completed the comeback in the ninth.
The Crawdads poured it on in the third as with one out, Rogers loaded the bases via a walk before Mises grounded out but scored Cam Cauley for the 3-1 lead. Three pitches later Quincy Scott doubled, clearing the bases and making it 5-1.
After a Konner Piotto walk, Rogers would be pulled for Gabriel Jackson. Jackson completed 2.2 innings as well, allowing two runs on one hit with three walks. He gave up a Yeison Morrobel ground out that scored Devin Hurdle to make it 6-1.
Coffey added his solo homer in the sixth on the first pitch of the at-bat, cutting the deficit to 6-2.
Nathan Landry took over for Jackson in the sixth after Jackson put runners on the corner with one out. A wild pitch scored Osuna and later a Mieses single boosted the lead to 9-2 as two runners scored. Landry finished tossing 1.1 innings allowing two runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout.
The Drive mounted their comeback from there, avoiding the sweep.
The Greenville Drive return to action on Tuesday, June 11 at 7:05 p.m. at Fluor Field for the start of a six-game homestand with the Asheville Tourists, affiliate of the Houston Astros.
Visit https://www.milb.com/greenville for more information and to purchase tickets online.
Written by the Greenville Drive.