Pitchers' Duel Ends in Extra-Inning Defeat
COLUMBIA, SC - The Fireflies and Suns battled into the 12th frame on Saturday night but Hagerstown outlasted Columbia, 2-1, at Spirit Communications Park. The final score doesn't overshadow what Fireflies starter P.J. Conlon did on the mound. The lefty pitched ten innings and surrendered just one unearned run. Conlon lowered his ERA at Spirit Communications Park to an incredible 0.62 in six starts (3 ER in 43.1 IP).
Victor Robles doubled to start the 12th inning for Hagerstown (36-19). Two wild pitches from Alex Palsha (L, 2-2) enabled Robles to move to third and eventually score, which broke a 1-1 tie. The game had been knotted up since the seventh frame.
The Suns scored their first run in the fifth. Rhett Wiseman reached on an error and was in scoring position with no outs. A groundball moved the right fielder to third base and Austin Davidson's fly out to right field was deep enough to plate the run. Conlon wouldn't allow a hit, though, until the seventh after 6.1 innings of no-hit ball.
In the bottom of the seventh, David Thompson tied the game up with one swing. His laser of a home run landed over the left-field wall. It was the Columbia (28-28) slugger's fourth long ball of the season.
Hagerstown relievers Tommy Peterson and Jorge Pantoja (W, 7-0) held the Fireflies to just one hit over the final five innings.
Columbia is off on Sunday and returns to action on the road in Augusta on Monday night. The Fireflies face the GreenJackets - the team they swept from May 23-25 - at 7:05 p.m. Andrew Church (2-0, 0.71) makes his third start of the season for Columbia.
You can listen to the action on WGCV 620 AM, 105.1 and 96.3 FM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the TuneIn Radio app starting at 7:00 p.m.