Fireflies Drop Wild, High-Scoring Memorial Day Matchup to Charleston
May 27, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
CHARLESTON, SC - Columbia lost a wild one to Charleston on Monday at Joe Riley Park, 9-7. The game featured 16 runs, 18 hits, two ties and two lead changes. Eventually, the RiverDogs ignited for four runs in the bottom of the eighth to snap a 5-5 tie and take a lead they would not lose again.
The Fireflies scored some early runs against Charleston (28-23) starter Jio Orozco and held a 4-2 advantage after four. The home team later swung back ahead 5-4 in the seventh. Columbia (19-32) exuded great poise when faced with the deficit and bounced right back to tie things up in the eighth.
The bottom half of the eighth was what did the visitors in. Nine RiverDogs hitters came to the plate and the back-breaking hit was Mickey Gasper's bases-clearing double against right-handed reliever Jose Moreno (L, 2-1). Charleston added one more run later on and took a four-run lead into the ninth.
In the final frame, Hansel Moreno demolished his third home run this season well beyond the right-field wall. The two-run blast added a little drama in the ninth, but, alas, Columbia fell short.
Moreno drove in three runs on the day. The 22-year-old outfielder is hitting .289 with three homers and seven RBI in 12 games with Columbia this year.
Chase Chambers also impressed at the plate. He tallied two hits on Monday and scored two runs. Infielder Shervyen Newton also extended his hit streak to six games with an eighth-inning single.
Charleston's reliever Jhony Brito (W, 2-0) was the winning pitcher. He wasn't particularly sharp, allowing three runs over four innings, but his offense backed him up.
SCORING SUMMARY:
Bottom 2: Mitchell Robinson hits a two-run homer over the left-field wall. CSC 2, COL 0
Top 3: Hansel Moreno grounds out to Charleston second baseman Kyle Gray, scores Gerson Molina from third ... Chandler Avant later singles in Hayden Senger. COL 2, CSC 2
Top 4: With runners at the corners, Molina grounds out to third baseman, Ricky Surums (Chase Chambers scores from third) ... with Brian Sharp at second base, Senger reaches on an error by Surums and Sharp scores. COL 4, CSC 2
Bottom 5: Canaan Smith doubles in Kyle Gray. COL 4, CSC 3
Bottom 7: With the bases loaded, Smith walks and pushes in a run ... Jose Moreno then plunks Mickey Gasper, forcing in another run. CSC 5, COL 4
Top 8: After Chambers doubles, Shervyen Newton strikes a base hit that plates the Knoxville, Tennesse, native. COL 5, CSC 5
Bottom 8: Gasper drives in three with a double to deep left field ... Frederick Cuevas scores Gasper with another two-bagger. CSC 9, COL 5
Top 9: H. Moreno hits a two-run homer over the right-field wall. CSC 9, COL 7
Columbia must win on Tuesday to ward off the four-game sweep. It's a quick turn around for both teams with first pitch at 11:05 a.m. at Joe Riley Park. The expected right-handed starters are Jose Butto (0-6, 5.36) for the Fireflies and Luis Gil (2-3, 2.19) for the RiverDogs. You can listen to the action at FirefliesLiveStream.com or the TuneIn app.
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