Early Offense Leads Way to 5-4 Win for Fireflies

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Fireflies bats tagged the Charleston RiverDogs for a run in each of the four innings to win 5-4 over Charleston Friday night at The Joe.

Hyungchan Um drove the Fireflies ahead with his eighth homer of the season to left field with two outs in the fourth. The round-tripper gave Columbia a 4-3 lead and capped off a stretch of four straight innings with a run scored for the Fireflies bats.

Columbia got some insurance in the seventh. Roni Cabrera drew a lead-off walk and came around on a two-out triple from Yandel Ricardo to push Columbia to a 5-3 lead.

Charleston got one back in the bottom of the eighth. Brady Marget got a lead-off single and came around on a Tom Poole double off Dash Albus to cut Columbia’s lead to 5-4. After that, Andy Basora (S, 4) entered the game and retired all four batters he faced to earn his fourth save of the season.

Jose Gutierrez (W, 7-3) worked five frames and held the red-hot RiverDogs bats to three runs (two earned) to keep the Fireflies in front heading into the back-half of the game. Meanwhile, the Fireflies tagged lefty Blake Morgan to a season-high four earned runs over five innings. It was only the second time in eight starts that Morgan only worked five frames.

The Fireflies turned to Henson Leal out of the pen. The righty worked two scoreless innings to pair with two strikeouts to move the game to the eighth inning with a 5-3 advantage.

Columbia struck first in the top of the first inning. Josh Hammond dribbled a one-out double down the right field line then came around on a Yandel Ricardo base knock to left to break the scoreless tie.

The lead didn’t last long. Charleston’s bats got going with a two-out rally. Brady Marget doubled down the third baseline to place runners at second and third for Brody Doney, who scorched a triple to left-center to score Alberth Palma and Marget to give Charleston a 2-1 lead.

The Fireflies were able to get it back in the top of the second. JC Vanek and Stone Russell hit back-to-back singles before a Hyungchan Um walk loaded the bases. After that, RiverDogs starter Blake Morgan (L, 3-1) tossed a wild pitch to plate Vanek and tie the game 2-2.

The offensive flurry continued in the top of the third. Hammond doubled to start the inning, then Ricardo sacrificed him to third before Sean Gamble scorched a single to right to plate Hammond and push Columbia to a 3-2 advantage. Charleston didn’t take long to counter again. In the bottom of the third, Alberth Palma bunted aboard safely before stealing second and third. He then came around on a Josh Hammond throwing error to first prior to the end of the inning to tie the game 3-3.

The Fireflies continue their series with the Charleston RiverDogs tomorrow night at The Joe at 6:05 pm. LHP Darwin Rodriguez (4-5, 3.89 ERA) takes the bump for Columbia and Charleston counters with RHP Alex Wallace (1-5, 5.13 ERA).

Columbia returns home July 21-26 to play the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers at Segra Park. The club will host their first-ever True Crime Mystery Night Thursday, July 23, giveaway an ugly Christmas Sweater Jersey to the first 1,000 in attendance July 24 and host Dino Night presented by SC Department of Environmental Services July 25. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.