Fireflies Drop Opener 8-3 in Carolina

Zebulon, NC – The Fireflies lost the series opener 8-3 to the Carolina Mudcats Tuesday night at Five County Stadium. Columbia allowed Mudcats lead-off hitter Daniel Guilarte to score four times in the game.

Blake Mitchell got Columbia (12-9) on the board with a two out, solo homer to right field in the fifth inning. The round tripper launched 402 feet off Mitchell’s bat and knocked Mudcats (16-6) starter Manuel Rodriguez (W, 1-2) out of the game. Rodriguez finished the night one out shy of a quality start, allowing a pair of hits and one run in 5.2 innings to pair with seven punchouts.

Columbia’s rally continued in the top of the seventh inning. Austin Charles walked to kick things off. Next, Erick Pena slapped a single to third prior to a throwing error that allowed Charles to come all the way home from first to cut Carolina’s lead to 5-2. Later in the inning, Lizandro Rodriguez properly executed a safety squeeze, bunting up the third base line with two outs to bring Pena home to make it 5-3.

The Mudcats got on the board first Tuesday evening. Daniel Guilarte opened the inning with a triple off the right-center wall before motoring home on a Yophery Rodriguez ground out to second to break the scoreless tie in the home half of the first.

The second baseman struck again in the third inning. Guilarte lifted a base knock up the middle to kick-off the third inning. He stole second then came around on a Cooper Pratt single to double Carolina’s lead. Pratt also came around. He scored on a two out bloop single beyond the glove of first baseman Derlin Figueroa to bring the score to 3-0 early.

Giularte wasn’t done there though. He reached on an error in the fifth inning and trotted home on a Tayden Hall sacrifice fly to move the score to 4-0 before Juan Baez roped his sixth double of the season to right-center, scoring Rodriguez and putting Carolina in front 5-0. He’d score a sixth run in the seventh to halt a Fireflies’ rally and double the visitors 6-3.

Fireflies starter Emmanuel Reyes (L, 1-1) was on the hook after allowing five runs in a season-low 4.2 innings before handing the ball to bullpen. Chase Isbell was the first arm out for Columbia. The righty went 2.1 innings and allowed a single run while wringing up three Mudcats before Connor Fenlong took over in the bottom of the eighth.

The Mudcats used two bullpen arms to cover the last 3.1 innings. Jeferson Figueroa and Harrison Durow closed out the game, allowing two runs on three hits and a pair of walks to clinch the first game of the series.

The Fireflies continue their series with the Carolina Mudcats tomorrow evening at Five County Stadium at 6:30 pm. RHP Felix Arronde (2-1, 3.00 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Carolina counters with RHP Daniel Corniel (0-0, 3.86 ERA).

Columbia returns home for 12 games in 13 days beginning May 7. The Fireflies welcome The Salem Red Sox and the Charleston RiverDogs to Segra Park during the run ending May 19. The club has tons of fun promotions on tap, including Star Wars Night May 11 and a Frank Mozzicato Bobblehead Giveaway May 10. Buy your tickets today at ColumbiaFireflies.com.