COLUMBIA, SC - Dan Rizzie picked up his fourth multi-hit game on a soggy Sunday evening at Spirit Communications Park. Rizzie finished with two singles and has at least one hit in five of his previous seven contests. The Fireflies fell to the Intimidators, 3-0.Adam Atkins and Matt Blackham were
COLUMBIA, SC - Dan Rizzie picked up his fourth multi-hit game on a soggy Sunday evening at Spirit Communications Park. Rizzie finished with two singles and has at least one hit in five of his previous seven contests. The Fireflies fell to the Intimidators, 3-0.
Adam Atkins and Matt Blackham were very sharp for Columbia (8-15, 48-43) out of the bullpen. The tandem threw a combined 2.2 scoreless innings and registered three strikeouts. The Fireflies' relievers have yielded just two earned runs so far in this homestand (five games).
Kannapolis (10-14, 49-43) scored first in the top of the second inning. With two runners on and two outs, Antonio Rodriguez lifted a fly ball into shallow right field and scored Jake Burger from second base. During that play, Fireflies outfielder Arnaldo Berrios threw out Luis Gonzalez who tried to advance to third. The Intimidators led 1-0 after two frames.
Gary Cornish (L, 1-3) made his fifth start for Columbia this season. The Phoenix native threw 84 pitches, logged 5.2 innings, and recorded four strikeouts. Kannapolis's starting pitcher, Blake Hickman (W, 2-4), was impressive with six shutout stanzas and only absorbed three hits.
Columbia experienced some tough luck throughout this game - grounded into four double plays.
The Fireflies wrap up their six-game homestand and battle the Kannapolis Intimidators on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Spirit Communications Park. Righty Harol Gonzalez (5-7, 4.43) is scheduled to start for Columbia and White Sox prospect Dylan Cease (0-0, 0.00) is set to pitch for Kannapolis. Cease was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs over the weekend and this will be his first start for the Intimidators.
You can listen to the action on ESPN Columbia 94.9 FM and 1230 AM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the TuneIn Radio app starting at 6:45 p.m. The actions airs live on MiLB.tv at 7:05 p.m.
