Figueroa Homers Twice as RiverDogs Suffer 7-0 Defeat

The Charleston RiverDogs were held off the scoreboard for just the fifth time in the 2024 season, suffering a 7-0 loss to the Columbia Fireflies on Wednesday night at Segra Park. Three Columbia pitchers limited the RiverDogs to just two singles in the game.

The RiverDogs (39-22, 66-60) were retired in order in the top of the first inning and Columbia (32-30, 67-60) came out swinging in the bottom half. Gary Gill Hill walked Daniel Vazquez with one out and allowed a two-run home run to the next batter, Derlin Figueroa, as the Fireflies jumped in front 2-0.

The second inning continued to be a struggle for the Dogs top hurler. Columbia began the frame with back-to-back singles and a walk to Colton Becker followed as the bases became full immediately. Another walk to Erick Torres forced in a run and made it 3-0. After retiring the next two hitters on shallow fly balls, a wild pitch skipped passed catcher J.D. Gonzalez and brought home a fourth run.

Figueroa factored heavily to another crooked number in the Fireflies fourth as they began to pull away. Torres beat out an infield single to short to put a man on base early in the inning and force Gill Hill back into the stretch. Figueroa came to the plate with two outs and cranked his second home run of the night over the right field wall to push the lead to 6-0. Dionmy Salon’s pinch-hit RBI groundout in the seventh drove in Austin Charles who had tripled in the previous at-bat. That gave Columbia a lead that matched the final score of 7-0.

Gill Hill took the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings. That outing allowed teammate Drew Dowd to pass him for the best ERA in the league. Jonalbert Rumbol worked 2.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen as he lowered his ERA to 3.69 on the campaign. Dalton Fowler allowed a run on four hits in 2.0 innings of his own.

Figueroa matched the RiverDogs hit total in a 2-4 showing with a pair of round-trippers and four RBI. Charles paced all batters with three hits. Carter Frederick and Callan Moss each added a pair of knocks for the Fireflies in a 12-hit performance.

The final series of the regular season continues Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. RHP Jose Urbina (0-0, 6.75) will take his turn in the rotation for the RiverDogs. Columbia will turn the baseball over to RHP Hiro Wyatt (2-1, 2.45).