Final score – Greenville 4, Rome 1
(From the Rome Braves):
2022 Draftee Ian Mejia took to the mound on Thursday night in game three against the Drive. Mejia’s Thursday night start would mark his AdventHealth Stadium debut and his second start in High-A.
Mejia’s first High-A start came last week in Bowling Green when the Arizona native went three innings while striking out one. Thursday would see Mejia record five strikeouts before being tagged for two runs in the third inning. Mejia would not make it out of the third inning, putting his final line score at two and two thirds of an inning, four hits, two runs, one walk and five strikeouts.
The two runs would be all the Drive needed, but they would tack on more thanks to Joe Davis. Joe Davis would drive in all four of the runs for the Drive on Thursday night, going three for five with a double.
Chih-Jung Liu would dominate the Rome offense on Thursday night, going five full innings and allowing no runs on three hits. Liu would end the night with ten punch outs of Rome Braves batters.
The lone offense from the Braves would come from Brandol Mezquita, who hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Jacob Pearson in the bottom of the sixth.
The four to one loss is Rome’s fifty-first of the season, and their twenty-first of the second half. Rome’s divisional lead remains at three games thanks to a Bowling Green loss on Thursday night.
The Braves and Drive will continue their series on Friday night with a 7:00 PM first pitch, as JJ Niekro gets the starting nod for the Braves.