ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Thursday’s doubleheader at HomeTrust Park had everything. A 49-baserunner slugfest that lasted over three hours. A viral home run. And a second game that was over almost as quickly as it started. The Greenville Drive took both ends and the Tourists have now lost three straight.
Game 1: Greenville 16, Asheville 12
There have been wilder games at HomeTrust Park this season…just not many.
Thirty-two combined hits, fifteen combined walks, three errors, and 49 combined baserunners across seven innings. All 18 batters notched a hit, but in the end the Tourists still fell by four.
Asheville jumped out early. Drive starter Jacob Mayers walked four of the first five batters in the first inning, with a Jack Moss walk forcing in the first run. 1-0 Tourists. Greenville tied it in the second on a Yophery Rodriguez single to center, but the Tourists answered in a big way in the bottom half. Ethan Frey singled to score two, Anthony Huezo doubled to score Frey, and Moss doubled to score Huezo. 5-1 Asheville.
The third inning added to the lead. Alejandro Nunez homered to right-center, his first in over a month. Then Xavier Neyens stepped in and hit a ball that went viral. The Astros' top prospect launched a 476-foot blast at 110 miles per hour to right-center field, his second home run as a Tourist and his first at HomeTrust Park. The video made its way onto Instagram, Facebook, and X, racking up hundreds of thousands of views. 7-1 Asheville.
Then the fourth inning happened.
A Kyle Walker error at short opened the door and Greenville never looked back. Enddy Azocar singled to score two. Justin Gonzalez singled to score another. A walk forced in another. Then Maximus Martin doubled to left to clear the bases and score three more. Just like that it was 9-7 Greenville. Freuddy Batista answered with a solo shot in the bottom half to cut it to 9-8, but Nazzan Zanetello homered in the fifth and Luke Heyman doubled to make it 11-8.
Huezo singled to score one in the fifth to make it 11-9, but the sixth inning buried the Tourists. Greenville sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring five times on four singles, a double and a Frey error in center. 16-9. Asheville got three back in the seventh on an Huezo double and a Walker error, but it was far too little too late. 16-12 final.
Anthony Cruz started and was sharp enough through three innings before Jordan Carr allowed six runs in 1.2 innings to blow the game open. Jackson Wells followed and allowed five more.
Huezo was outstanding, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs. Frey went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two walks.
Game 2: Greenville 6, Asheville 1
If game one was chaotic, game two was the opposite.
Kellan Oakes ran into trouble immediately. Isaiah Jackson doubled to score two in the first, and Yophery Rodriguez followed with another double to make it 3-0, all with two outs. The Drive added three more in the third on another Jackson double and a Rodriguez ground-rule double, his 20th of the season, to push it to 6-0.
Oakes finished with three innings pitched, seven hits, and six runs allowed. Raimy Rodriguez, Garrett Apker, and Max Martin combined for four scoreless innings to stop the bleeding, but the damage was done.
Asheville's only run came in the third on a Huezo ground ball that nearly became a double play, but scored Thomas Jr. Jack Moss singled in the sixth to narrowly avoid a no-hitter, one of the few bright spots in a quiet night at the plate.
Marcus Phillips was dominant for Greenville, and the Tourists never threatened after the third.
Asheville has now lost three straight and will look to turn things around Friday night at HomeTrust Park. Andrew Taylor takes the ball against Greenville's Devin Futrell. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.