COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Fireflies bats were held at bay by the Fayetteville Woodpeckers in a 4-1 loss Thursday at Segra Stadium.
The Woodpeckers started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Anthony Huezo mashed a lead-off double and Xavier Neyens drew a walk before the first out was recorded. After that, Fireflies starter Shane Van Dam (L, 1-4) issued a wild pitch to advance runners to second and third. Kevin Alvarez dribbled a single to right to score the two and break the scoreless tie.
Fayetteville added an extra run in the second inning on a Carlos Cuero sacrifice fly that scored Hector Salas to make it 3-0 in favor of the Woodpeckers. The Woodpeckers added their final run off Xavier Neyens seventh homer of the season in the fifth inning.
The Fireflies scored their lone run in the top of the ninth inning. Yandel Ricardo drew a lead-off walk and advanced home on two groundouts and a wild pitch to get Columbia on the board.
Van Dam allowed three runs (two earned) over four innings before getting the ball to Denis Samudio. Samudio held Fayetteville to one hit, the Neyens homer, over three innings of relief. The righty struck out four Woodpeckers before Yeri Perez entered the game for a scoreless eighth inning.
Stone Russell broke up Fayetteville’s no-hit bid to lead-off the top of the seventh inning. Nick Potter walked four over 3.1 innings before getting the ball to Ryan Verdugo (W, 2-3) who closed out the game with 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball to ensure the shutout against Columbia. The two pitchers combined to hold Columbia to a single hit and five walks.
Columbia continues their series with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers tomorrow night at Segra Stadium at 6:35 pm. RHP Jose Gutierrez (1-2, 4.31 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Fayetteville counters with RHP Javier Perez (3-3, 3.23 ERA).
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.