Columbia's Rally Falls Short in Series Finale
COLUMBIA, SC - J.C. Rodriguez tied game three of the series with one swing of the bat in the seventh inning, but the Shorebirds pulled ahead in the eighth and beat the Fireflies, 8-5. Rodriguez finished with two hits, including his fifth home run of the year, and plated three runs.
Delmarva (10-11, 52-38) broke the 5-5 tie in the top of the eighth frame. After Columbia (5-16, 41-50) righty Jimmy Duff (L, 0-1) loaded the bases, Randolph Gassaway poked a run-scoring single to left field to give the visitors the lead. Then Gerrion Grim bounced into a fielder's choice, which enabled Alex Murphy to cross home plate. After eight, the Shorebirds led, 7-5.
The two teams combined for nine runs over the first two innings. Delmarva pushed five across in the top of the first, using five hits off of Fireflies starter Joe Shaw. While he did struggle in the first, the righty bounced back and didn't allow a run over the next 5.2 innings. Shaw picked up seven strikeouts and walked just two.
Columbia's offense came to Shaw's rescue in the bottom of the second. The four-run surge started with a Brandon Brosher single back up the box. Milton Ramos reached on a fielder's choice to replace Brosher on the first-base bag. Then Shorebirds starter Ofelky Peralta walked Joe Tuschak and Luis Ortega back-to-back. With the bases loaded, Peralta plunked Enmanuel Zabala on the arm and the Fireflies got on the board. Rodriguez plated a pair with a single and Tucker Tharp used a sacrifice fly to score Zabala.
It was just a one run game, 5-4, in Delmarva's favor through six and a half innings. Rodriguez's game-tying solo shot off of Shorebirds' righty Francisco Jimenez (W, 7-7) in the seventh jolted the home team and the crowd. Columbia had just one baserunner, though, in the final two frames. Delmarva's Christian Turnipseed (S, 13) pitched a one-two-three ninth.
The Fireflies look to put the Delmarva series behind them as they welcome Southern Division foe Rome on Friday night for a four-game series. Right-hander Chase Ingram (4-8, 5.63) makes his 17th start of the season and faces Braves southpaw Oriel Caicedo (1-4, 5.60). First pitched is slated for 7:05 p.m.
You can watch the action on MiLB.TV or listen in on WGCV 620 AM, 105.1 and 96.3 FM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the TuneIn Radio app starting at 7:00 p.m.