It was a rather routine walk in the park for Greenville against the Carolina Pirates on Sunday afternoon at Guy Smith Stadium as the Yard Gnomes cruised to a 12-2 win in seven innings of exhibition baseball.

The only real challenge of the afternoon for Greenville was weathering the hot and humid conditions as temperatures reached as high as 92 degrees with only the slightest of breezes present to help with an occasional cool down or two.

“Hot” is also the right word to use when discussing the Yard Gnomes’ offense against the Pirates.  

Jack Herring (Rollins College, 2-4, two RBI) doubled in the home first to drive in both Gage Griggs (John A. Logan College, 2-3, two RBI, walk) and Aden Howard (Dallas Baptist, RBI, walk) for Greenville. While unofficial, the runs that Herring produced only added to his 10 official RBI entering the day (a team-best mark).

Carlos Vasquez (Western Kentucky, 2-4, RBI), who was one of the heroes for Greenville in their 9-5 win over Wilmington on Saturday, brought Herring across later in the 1^st off of an RBI single.

Leading 3-0 after one inning, the Yard Gnomes piled on more offense in the 2^nd as three more runs crossed, two of which came off a Carolina wild pitch by righty starter Xander Johnson (Methodist University, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 3 ER, three walks, strikeout in the loss).

Both teams traded runs in the 3^rd and the Pirates even scored a run in the 5^th as Angel Ortega-Martinez (Carolina University, 2-3, two RBI) tripled in Michael Lotharp (Barton, 1-4).

With a 7-2 lead in their pocket, Greenville added one run in the 6^th and four in the 7^th to finish with a flourish.

Jack Herring led off the 7^th with a single and was followed by Mason Staz (Barton, 1-3, walk) who doubled soon after to make it back-to-back hits to start the home portion for Greenville. Nick Rodriguez (South Florida) had a sacrifice fly that plated Herring and later it was another back-to-back for the Yard Gnomes as both Jack Holley (Georgia State, 1-2, walk) and Zayd Brannigan (Western Kentucky, 1-3, RBI) were hit by a pitch on wayward efforts from Carolina RHP Damon McAnallen (Craven Community College, 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, two walks).

The Brannigan plunk came with the bases loaded and that forced home Mason Staz to make it a 10-2 lead for Greenville.

Gage Griggs doubled to right field in the next at-bat and effectively ended the game on his extra base hit as Darnell and Holley plated to but a bow on the Yard Gnomes’ 12-2 run rule exhibition win.

RHP Andres Camargo (East Georgia State) made his first start of any kind this season for Greenville against the Pirates and logged a final line of three innings worked with four hits allowed, one run earned, one walk and six strikeouts. Lefty Reece Tarini (Louisiana Tech) made his debut appearance of the season for Greenville on the mound and looked strong in the exhibition win (4.0 IP, 3 H, ER, five strikeouts).

A lighter week is right around the corner for Greenville as they get back to games that count on Monday night as the Yard Gnomes travel to Morehead City, NC to play the Marlins (7-5) for the fourth time this season. First pitch at Big Rock Stadium is set for 7 PM. Greenville will have Tuesday and Wednesday off before they travel to Peninsula on Thursday night to soar with the Pilots (9-4 entering Sunday) in Hampton, VA. The Yard Gnomes will be back at home on Friday night (June 14^th) as the Wilson Tobs (9-3) return to Guy Smith Stadium for a 6:30 PM start. It will be “Boy Scout Night” at the ballpark next Friday with a chance for fans to show off their Merit Badge skills.

NOTES: Total game time was two hours and four minutes.