RedWolves continue to thrive off pitching

By: SCNow Staff | SCNow
Published: June 11, 2008

FLORENCE — The last few games for the Florence RedWolves have featured some stellar pitching performances.
Rob Kumbatovic tossed a shutout of Wilson on Friday. Steve Grife no-hit rival Fayetteville on Sunday.
Not to be outdone Tuesday was Andre Benjamin. The lefthander held Wilmington to three hits as Florence efficiently dispatched the Sharks, 4-1 at Legion Field in just an hour and 54 minutes.
Benjamin (2-0) allowd just one run, a solo homer to Clemson’s John Nester in the ninth, and struck out six in the victory.
“I’m trying to throw strikes and letting the defense play behind me,” Benjamin said. “I don’t have a lot of velocity like Grife, so I have to get a lot of ground balls.”
“Our starters have been great,” Florence coach Wes Davis said. “Andre’s a testament to hard work and determination.
“These guys have worked hard on their off days, and it’s showed on game days.”
Florence (8-2) did all of its damage in the first three innings.
In the first, Jamie Wolczak led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an Andrew Guerra double to give the RedWolves a 1-0 advantage.
One batter later, Myckie Lugbauer lifted a sacrifice fly off Wilmington’s Bryant Gaines to score Guerra and make it 2-0.
The RedWolves made it 3-0 in the second on Keegan Morrow’s RBI single to score Keon Graves.
The Redwolves capped their scoring in the third. Alec Lowery laced a one-out single to right, then scored on a Barrett Kleinknecht double into the gap in right centerfield.
When the throw to the plate bounced away from catcher Kolby Epley, Kleinknecht headed for third but was thrown out.
Wilmington (4-6) tried to get some runs back in off Benjamin in the top of the fourth inning. Three errors, two on Guerra, loaded the bases with one out. But Benjamin induced an inning-ending double-play.
“I felt pretty confident that I was going to get a ground ball,” Benjamin said. “I got one and we were able to turn two.“
“Andre was put in a couple of tough situations during the game and he made the pitches,” Davis said. “A lot of guys have good stuff and they aren’t able to make the pitches when they need to.
“He definitely did that tonight.“
Gaines (1-1) took the loss for Wilmington, allowing three earned runs on eight hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out two batters and walked none.

RedWolves continue to thrive off pitching

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