COLUMBIA, SC - Martin Anderson was locked in during his sixth start with the Fireflies. The southpaw logged a career-long 6.2 innings and only yielded three hits. However, the club fell short to the Tourists, 3-2, in 13 innings at Spirit Communications Park.Columbia (27-37, 67-65) trailed Asheville (34-30, 63-69) 1-0
COLUMBIA, SC - Martin Anderson was locked in during his sixth start with the Fireflies. The southpaw logged a career-long 6.2 innings and only yielded three hits. However, the club fell short to the Tourists, 3-2, in 13 innings at Spirit Communications Park.
Columbia (27-37, 67-65) trailed Asheville (34-30, 63-69) 1-0 after four frames. The home team managed to score two runs off just one hit in the fifth stanza. Jay Jabs walked to start the inning and then Arnaldo Berrios singled. The next batter, Brandon Brosher , was hit by pitch and the Fireflies had the bases juiced. Tourists starting pitcher Erick Julio proceeded to walk J.J. Franco and that scored Jabs. Still with the bases full and no outs, Quinn Brodey bounced into a double play, but Berrios touched home plate safely. The Fireflies grabbed a 2-1 advantage after five innings.
The home team appeared to completely escape the top of the seventh unharmed. With one out and Asheville's Bobby Wernes at first base, Vince Fernandez launched a fly ball down the right-field line. The umpires ruled a foul ball and Fernandez was frustrated with the call, thinking it was a home run. The outfielder was tossed from the contest with a full count. Ben Johnson was summoned off the bench as a pinch hitter and took the first pitch he saw for strike three.
Later in the frame with Wernes still at first base, Brian Serven crushed an RBI triple off the left-field wall. The visitors tied the game, 2-2, after seven innings. The score remained this way until the 13th frame. Tyler Nevin drove in the game-winning run off Matt Pobereyko (L, 2-2) with an RBI single.
The Fireflies left 12 runners on base in this series opener. Despite this, there were a couple of sparks in the offense on Tuesday night. Dash Winningham and Dan Rizzie each collected three-hit games.
Ryder Ryan , Matt Blackham , and Joseph Zanghi delivered strong performances out of the bullpen. The trio combined for 4.1 scoreless innings and posted four strikeouts.
The Fireflies continue their series with the Asheville Tourists on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Spirit Communications Park. Justin Brantley (2-2, 5.45) makes the start for Columbia and righty Antonio Santos (8-9, 5.55) takes the ball for Asheville.
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 game also airs live on MiLB.tv.
