COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Fireflies took their first lead in the eighth inning, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 3-2 to the Charleston RiverDogs Sunday at Segra Park.
Columbia took their first lead of the game with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Connor Rasmussen was at second after Sean Gamble was hit by a pitch and Josh Hammond rolled over a ball to short. After a throwing error from second baseman Alberth Palma, Rasmussen came around to score and give Columbia a 2-1 advantage.
Charleston rallied in the top of the ninth though. Brandon Herbold walked Brailer Guerrero to start the inning. Next, Brendan Summerhill grounded out to second to move the tying run to second. After that, Andy Basora (L, 1-3; BS, 3) allowed a single to Tom Poole that scored Guerrero to tie the gamea. Eventually, Poole came around on a two out JD Gonzalez base knock that gave Charleston a 3-2 lead.
Sean Gamble tied the game 1-1 with a one out moonshot to right field in the sixth inning. The 103 MPH blast was Gamble’s second round-tripper of the season and his first since April 3 at Hickory.
RiverDogs starter Blake Morgan dazzled in his Carolina League debut. The southpaw spun a quality start with eight strikeouts across six innings. Morgan allowed only one run off six hits before turning the ball over to the bullpen.
The RiverDogs cracked the score column early in the top of the first. Alberth Palma led the frame off with a double down the right field side and advanced to third on a throwing error from Roni Cabrera. The next batter, Cooper Flemming grounded out to short to plate Palma and put Charleston in front 1-0.
Michael Lombardi worked around a pair of hits and four walks in three innings to only allow one, unearned run before he gave the ball to the bullpen. The righty struck out seven in his start and now leads Single-A with 62 strikeouts this season.
After that, Henson Leal kept the Fireflies within striking distance by firing three, one-hit innings with a pair of strikeouts to keep it a one-run contest.
The Fireflies head to Fayetteville to open up a six-game series with the Woodpeckers Tuesday at 6 pm at Segra Stadium. Both teams have yet to name their starters for the series.
The Fireflies return home for a six-game series with the Delmarva Shorebirds at Segra Park from June 9-14. It’s Copa Weekend at Segra Park, which this year includes a Futbol Fiesta Thursday July 11, a soccer scarf giveaway July 12 and a car show and pig roast Sunday, July 14. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.