COLUMBIA, SC - Edgardo Fermin collected his fourth three-hit game of the season on Thursday night. Columbia dropped the series opener to Lakewood 8-1 at Spirit Communications Park. The club is back home on Friday night and Braves legend Dale Murphy will be recognized during the game.Columbia's (0-1, 34-34) lone
COLUMBIA, SC - Edgardo Fermin collected his fourth three-hit game of the season on Thursday night. Columbia dropped the series opener to Lakewood 8-1 at Spirit Communications Park. The club is back home on Friday night and Braves legend Dale Murphy will be recognized during the game.
Columbia's (0-1, 34-34) lone run occurred in the sixth inning. Blake Tiberi led off with a single into left field. Two batters later, Jeremy Vasquez recorded his team-leading 14th double of the season and the home team had runners at second and third base. Matt Winaker drove in Tiberi with a sacrifice fly.
Lakewood (1-0, 42-28) jumped on starting pitcher Anthony Kay (L, 3-4) from the beginning. The visitors pushed four runs across in the first inning and ultimately knocked Kay out of the game after just four innings. The southpaw allowed nine hits, yielded five runs, and registered five strikeouts during that span.
Taylor Henry and Conner O'Neil each tossed a scoreless frame out of the bullpen for the Fireflies. Henry struck out two batters when called on in the eighth inning. O'Neil fanned one batter in the ninth.
Rodolfo Duran was the story for the BlueClaws on offense. The 20-year-old finished a single shy of the cycle. He tripled in the third, doubled in the fifth, homered in the seventh, but flew out in the ninth.
Game two of this series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Friday night at Spirit Communications Park. RHP Tony Dibrell (2-3, 3.67) is on the mound for Columbia and RHP Spencer Howard (3-6, 5.25) takes the ball for Lakewood. You can listen to the action starting at 6:45 p.m. on FOX SPORTS Radio 1400 AM or online at columbiafireflies.com. The game is also available to watch live on MiLB.tv.
