Ramos, Ingram Shine On Opening Night

CHARLESTON, SC -- Shortstop Milton Ramos collected two singles and drove in a pair of runs on Opening Night on Thursday, but the Fireflies fell short, losing 5-4 to the Charleston RiverDogs at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Thursday was a day of firsts. The first game in Columbia Fireflies history didn't go quite as planned, but the first starter in team history had a stellar debut. Right-hander Chase Ingram cruised through four innings, striking out a career-high seven batters.

In the second inning, third-baseman David Thompson smacked the first base hit in club history. The Fireflies' bats heated up in the fourth -- Vinny Siena and Dash Winningham began the frame with back-to-back singles. Siena scored later in the inning when a wild pitch bounced away from RiverDogs catcher Eduardo Navas. Tyler Moore and Ramos both drove in runs to put Columbia (0-1) ahead 3-0.

Charleston (1-0) plated its first run in the fifth, but the visitors answered back in the following frame. Ramos drove in J.C. Rodriguez to extend the lead back to three.

The score remained the same until the ninth. The RiverDogs plated a pair off of Fireflies reliever Alex Palsha (L, 0-1) to cut the deficit to just one. With the bases loaded, Navas stole home when pitcher Johnny Magliozzi stepped off the rubber and after a throwing error, Hoy Jun Park sprinted around third base to score the game-winning run.

James Reeves (W, 1-0) picked up the victory for Charleston.

Not to be forgotten, lefty Seth Davis came out of the bullpen and tossed two scoreless innings for Columbia, striking out a pair.

The Fireflies can win their first ever game on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Left-hander P.J. Conlon faces RiverDogs righty Will Carter.

You can listen to the action on WGCV 620 AM and 105.1 FM, ColumbiaFireflies.com, and the TuneIn Radio app starting at 7:00 p.m.