Britton, Rodriguez lead Greenville to game one victory

9/9 Cup of Coffee: Greenville, the only Boston affiliate to qualify for the post season, began their journey to a potential South Atlantic League title against the Savannah Sand Gnats (NYM).

Looking to take a very important edge in the best of three series, Greenville displayed power pitching and racked up fifteen hits on their way to an 8-3 victory over Savannah. Drive starter Drake Britton showed why he was chosen to start the pivotal game one, going 5.0 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 8. Kendal Volz followed Britton and turned in 3.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and a walk while punching out 3. Armando Zerpa pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to lock down the victory. Down 1-0 in the third, Greenville plated five runs thanks to a Reynaldo Rodriguez RBI double, a Reymond Fuentes sacrifice fly and an RBI double by Christian Vazquez. Greenville tacked on two more in the fourth on an RBI triple by Jeremy Hazelbaker and another RBI double by the hot hitting Rodriguez. Shannon Wilkerson, who went 4 for 4 with 4 singles, laced an RBI single in the seventh to give the Drive a five run cushion. Every member of the Drive had at least one hit except for Kolbrin Vitek as Rodriguez was 3 for 5 and Vazquez 3 for 4. The series will continue in Savannah on Friday as Greenville looks to go for the quick two game sweep. Chris Balcom-Miller will take the hill at 7:05.

Player of the Night: Drake Britton, for his 5.0 inning performance in which he allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 8 to pick up the victory for Greenville.

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