COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Fireflies used a dominant pitching performance to set down the Fredericksburg Nationals 3-0 in one-hit fashion Sunday night at Segra Park.
Coleman Picard (W, 1-1) dominated in the start. The righty was perfect through four innings and finished the game with five one-hit innings paired with six strikeouts before he handed the ball to the bullpen. Hunter Alberini worked 1.1 innings and hit one batter, but allowed no other base runners.
Dash Albus finished the seventh and worked a clean eighth inning before Yeri Perez (S, 3) spun a scoreless ninth inning to keep Columbia in front 3-0. The pitchers combined for the Fireflies second one-hitter of the season. Kendry Chourio, Jhon Reyes and Jordan Woods combined for a one-hitter April 9 vs Myrtle Beach. It is also the Fireflies third shutout of the season.
The Fireflies got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Connor Rasmussen, Josh Hammond and Sean Gamble drew walks to set the table for JC Vanek who lined a triple to centerfield to clear the bases and give Columbia the 3-0 advantage.
Liam Sullivan (L, 4-3) allowed all three runs in his three innings of work before Austin Amaral, Yohan Ohtanez and Jackson Dannelley finished out the game with five scoreless innings to keep the FredNats within striking distance.
The Fireflies continue their homestand Tuesday as the Salem RidgeYaks come to town for a 7:05 pm showdown. Both teams have yet to name their starting pitchers for the series.
Columbia’s next home game is a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday where fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite. Tickets are available starting at just $6 at FirefliesTickets.com.