Columbia Fireflies Game Notes April 23 vs Augusta
April 23, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies open up a series with the Augusta GreenJackets this morning at 11:05 am at Segra Park. RHP Ethan Bosacker (0-0, 0.81 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Augusta counters with RHP Cade Kueller (1-1, 0.00 ERA).
It's a beautiful day for day-time baseball and WLTX Weather Day! Tons of students-and possibly you-can learn more about how weather affects baseball before the game this morning. Plus, shop the best lunch specials in town at Segra Park on a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday. Enjoy $2 hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite.
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LATE OFFENSE PUSHES COLUMBIA TO 3-1 WIN: The Fireflies added some late runs behind another stellar pitching performance to take their third-consecutive game over the Charleston RiverDogs 3-1 Saturday night at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. The Fireflies edged ahead in the top of the eighth inning. Erick Torres reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second after Blake Mitchell singled. Next, Daniel Vazquez bounced out to pitcher Wooyeoul Shin to move runners to second and third with a pair of outs. Derlin Figueroa didn't even need to put the ball into play. Shin threw a wild pitch in the dirt that plated Torres to put Columbia on top 2-1. Last Tuesday, Torres scored on a wild pitch from Garrett Brown to start off the Fireflies series vs the Pelicans, so it is the second time he has scored the go-ahead run late off a wild pitch this season.
YOU CAN COUNT ON CHARLES: After a slow start to the 2024 season, Austin Charles has put himself right back on top with the rest of the Carolina League Leaders. The Fireflies third baseman is riding a nine-game hitting streak that began April 10. During the run, he is 13-31 (.419) at the plate with one homer and an incredible 12 RBI. His streak has the fifth-most RBI in the circuit this season, but Charles sits with 14, just two behind league leader Brandon Pimentel in Fredericksburg. His hitting streak is tied for the 2nd longest hitting streak in the Carolina League.
QUALITY BOSACKER: Ethan Bosacker became the first Fireflies pitcher to notch a quality start during the 2024 season yesterday. The righty has gotten off to a great push this year. After five scoreless frames from the bullpen in his first appearance of the year at Segra Park, yesterday he went six innings, allowing a single hit (a homerun) while punching out seven. He's tied for the team lead with 12 punchouts and has a 0.81 ERA this year.
MARVELOUS MITCHELL: The Fireflies back stop has been riding a hot streak fueled by patience at the plate. He currently is tied for the second-longest on-base streak in the Carolina League, a 12-game stretch that began April 6. On the run he is 14-44 (.318) with an incredible 15 walks which have pushed his on-base percentage to .500.
BLISTERING BULLPEN: Despite giving up the lead late Tuesday afternoon, the Fireflies bullpen has been a walking highlight reel for the 2024 season so far. The pen is 4-4 through its first 55.1 innings of work and has 65 punchouts while spinning to the tune of a 2.60 ERA. To put that into perspective, as a whole, the Fireflies have a 3.34 ERA this season, which is good for the fifth-best Single-A ERA. The top mark in the Carolina League belongs to the Augusta GreenJackets, who as a team have a 2.89 ERA. In other words, if you can get the game to the Fireflies bullpen with the lead, you're in good hands this year.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: It's wild to think about, but when the Fireflies have lost, they haven't lost by much. The club is 8-5 this season and of those five losses, four have been by a single run--with two coming in extra innings. Their fifth loss was also in extra innings, but it came by a pair of runs. This season, the Fireflies have the highest run-differential in the Carolina League as they have outscored opponents by 32 runs in their first 13 games.
I'M COMING HOME: This year, the Fireflies have a 3-4 record away from Segra Park, but the team has been hot at home, taking five of their six contest in the friendly confines.
LUCKY 8: The Fireflies have outscored opponents 16-1 during the eighth inning of their games this season.
Carolina League Stories from April 23, 2024
- Walk-off Walk Wins Woodpeckers' Series Opener Over Down East - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Pelicans Score Eight Unanswered, Beat Hillcats 8-6 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Hillcats Lose in Extras After Leading Majority of the Game - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Eight Runs in Seventh Propel Kannapolis to 13-3 Win Over RiverDogs - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Kannapolis Crushes RiverDogs in Series Opener - Charleston RiverDogs
- Seventh-Inning Rally Gives Mudcats Thrilling Win in Series Opener - Carolina Mudcats
- Birchard to IL, Torres Added from ACL Brewers - Carolina Mudcats
- Nationals Thump Shorebirds 6-0 - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Shorebirds Blanked by Nationals in Series Opener - Delmarva Shorebirds
- GreenJackets Shut out for First Time in 8-0 Loss to Fireflies - Augusta GreenJackets
- Great Pitching, Four-Run Eighth Lead Fireflies to Win - Columbia Fireflies
- GreenJackets Homestand Preview April 30th-May 5th - Augusta GreenJackets
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes April 23 vs Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
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