Seven innings wasn’t enough to decide Wednesday’s second game of a doubleheader between the Greenville Drive and the Augusta GreenJackets, but a big hit from Rafael Devers in the eighth helped the Drive to a 3-1 victory and a split of the twinbill.
The eighth inning began with Derek Miller rudely greeting Augusta reliever Reyes Moronta (1-3) with a leadoff single, and Devers followed with a liner to center field to put the Drive ahead. Later in the frame, an Augusta error on a groundball by Yoan Moncada allowed another run to score.
Jake Drehoff (1-0) was dynamite in relief en route to the win, striking out six over three scoreless innings, and Ryan Harris recorded a 1-2-3 eighth inning to snag his first save.
The GreenJackets took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Johneshwy Fargas doubled and came in on a Travious Relaford RBI single.
That was the only blemish against Drive starter Michael Kopech, who continued his early success in the 2015 season by punching out a career-high eight hitters in four innings.
The Drive tied things up in the fourth when Ben Moore singled with two outs and eventually scored on a passed ball. Moore had a pair of hits in the second game.
In the opener, the Drive were done in by a four-run bottom of the sixth for the GreenJackets in a 5-2 loss. Augusta collected only one hit in the inning, an RBI single by Jared Deacon, and runs scored on a Mario Alcantara wild pitch, a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly by Will Callaway.
The Drive took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the opener, as Mauricio Dubon led off the game with a single and later scored on an Augusta throwing error. That lead went to 2-0 following a fourth inning RBI single from Mike Meyers.
Jeffry Fernandez (0-5) was terrific for four innings, but the GreenJackets got to him for a run in the fifth on Callaway’s RBI groundout and tagged him for a few more runs in the fifth to keep him searching for his first win of the season.
Raymundo Montero (2-2) earned the win by striking out the only batter he faced, and Carlos Alvarado closed out the game to pick up his seventh save.
Devers and Javier Guerra each picked up a pair of hits for Greenville in game one.
The road trip continues on Thursday night at 7:05 as the Drive begin a four-game series against the Lexington Legends, affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. RH Reed Reilly (2-2, 4.24) takes the ball for the Drive, and the Legends will start RH Scott Blewett.
(Photo via Greenville Drive and Gwinn Davis.)