Pitching Powers Fireflies to Third-Straight win 

Columbia, SC— The Fireflies pitching staff spun eight scoreless innings to end a 5-2 win over the Charleston RiverDogs Thursday night at Segra Park.

Yunior Marte settled down in a big way after the first. The righty worked through 4.2 innings and retired the last seven batters he faced. Columbia’s starter finished the night with four strikeouts before passing the ball to Elvis Novas (W, 1-0) and the Fireflies bullpen. Novas worked 1.1 scoreless innings to get Columbia to the final third of the ball game.

After that, Fraynel Nova (H, 1) worked through two scoreless innings before Nick Conte (S, 1) closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Fireflies countered the RiverDogs immediately in the home half of the first inning. Ryan Schiefer set the table for Columbia, hitting Asbel Gonzalez and Jorge Hernandez with pitches prior to walking Ramon Ramirez to load the bases with no outs. Derlin Figueroa plated the first run with a sacrifice fly to left to earn his Carolina League leading 10th RBI of the season.

After that, Stone Russell legged out an infield single combined with a throwing error from second baseman Narciso Polanco that tied the game 2-2. Later, Schiefer heaved a wild pitch that allowed Ramirez to score to give Columbia their first lead of the game. Brennon McNair closed out the scoring in the frame. The left fielder laced a double to the right-center gap to plate Russell to double up the RiverDogs 4-2.

Columbia added a second run via the wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ramon Ramirez walked and moved to third on a double play before Jonalbert Rumbol tossed one to the back stop to give Columbia a 5-2 lead.

Charleston cracked the score column first in the top of the first inning. The RiverDogs used four hits and an error to score a pair of runs before Columbia could come to the dish for the first time.

The Fireflies continue their series with the Charleston RiverDogs tomorrow at 7:05 at Segra Park. Columbia sends RHP Tanner Jones (0-0, 0.00 ERA) to the bump and Charleston counters with righty Trevor Harrison (0-1, 15.43 ERA).

Tomorrow the Fireflies are hosting the Midland’s first-ever drone show post-game thanks to AMAROK. Fans can also receive a 2025 magnet schedule giveaway as they leave the game. Buy your tickets online at FirefliesTickets.com.