Hagerstown, MD - Juan Pascal had three hits in his Hagerstown Suns debut in a 7-6 loss to the Columbia Fireflies Friday night at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns are 7-14 in the second half and 34-55 overall and will start a four-game series in Kannapolis on Saturday night with
Hagerstown, MD - Juan Pascal had three hits in his Hagerstown Suns debut in a 7-6 loss to the Columbia Fireflies Friday night at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns are 7-14 in the second half and 34-55 overall and will start a four-game series in Kannapolis on Saturday night with a 7:05 PM first pitch.
The Fireflies jumped out to an early lead in the opening inning against Suns starter Jackson Tetreault. Edgardo Fermin led off with a single to left field and Blake Tiberi belted a home run to right field to give Columbia a 2-0 advantage.
The Suns answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning against Fireflies starter Zac Grotz. Yasel Antuna led off with a single to center field, Cole Freeman followed with an infield single, and Jake Scudder singled to load the bases with no outs. Alex Dunlap grounded into a double play and Antuna scored to make it a 2-1 game.
Hagerstown tied the game in the fourth inning with Grotz on the mound. With one out Dunlap doubled to center field and Nick Choruby singled to center field to put runners on the corners with one out. Paul Panaccione lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Dunlap to even it up at 2-2.
The Fireflies scored three runs in the fifth inning against Tetreault. Giovanny Alfonzo led off with a triple down the right-field line and with one out, Fermin singled to left to plate Alfonzo and re-take the lead, 3-2. Tiberi grounded out to first base and moved Fermin to second base. With two outs, Matt Winaker doubled to center field to score Fermin and increase the lead to 4-2. Scott Manea doubled to center field and scored Winaker to make it a 5-2 lead.
The Suns notched two runs in the bottom half of the fifth against Grotz. Antuna led off with a triple to right and, with one out, Scudder was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. With two outs, Choruby hit a triple down the right-field line to plate both Antuna and Scudder to make it a 5-4 game with the Fireflies still in command.
Hagerstown scored a run in the sixth inning against Columbia pitchers Grotz and reliever Darwin Ramos. Kameron Esthay led off with a triple and Pascal reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners with no outs. Ramos entered from the bullpen and Armond Upshaw bunted for a single to plate Esthay and even up the game 5-5.
Columbia scored in the ninth inning against Suns reliever Jared Brasher. Oliver Pascual singled to center field, Fermin moved Pascual to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Tiberi singled to right field to put runners at the corners with one out. Winaker was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Manea reached on an infield single to score Pascual and take a 6-5 lead. With two outs, Zach Rheams was hit by pitch to plate Tiberi to extend the lead 7-5.
Hagerstown answered with a run in the bottom of the ninth against Fireflies reliever Carlos Hernandez. Freeman led off with a triple down the right-field line and Scudder singled up the middle to plate Freeman to make it 7-6. With Scudder at second base, Hernandez slammed the door and preserved the win for Columbia by striking out the last two hitters of the game. The Fireflies dealt the Suns their 55th loss of the season with a 7-6 final score.
Tetreault spun six innings and allowed five runs on 10 hits, striking out four in a no-decision on Friday night. Phil Morse entered from the bullpen and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit with three walks and a strikeout. Brasher (0-2) pitched one inning and gave up two runs on three hits with a strikeout while hitting two batters in a loss.
Notes: Freeman increased his hit streak to six games… Choruby logged his fourth multi-hit game and his first multi-RBI game of the season… His multi-hit game extended his hit streak to six games … Antuna recorded his 17th multi-hit game of the season… Scudder logged his 9th multi-hit game… Brasher tied a season-high for most hit batters in an inning… Pascal made his debut for the Suns… He recorded his first multi-hit game… The Suns are 3-4 when tied after eight innings… The Suns are 8-10 in one-run games… Hagerstown trails the Fireflies in the season series and are 4-5 against Columbia… Hagerstown and Kannapolis will play the first game of a four-game series on Saturday night… First pitch will be at 7:05 PM… The Suns will send RHP Malvin Pena (1-0, 0.00 ERA) to the mound against Intimidators LHP Parker Rigler (6-3, 4.03 ERA)…
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