COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Fireflies bullpen worked four scoreless innings to keep the offense close, but the Fireflies were unable to drive ahead. Columbia lost 5-2 to the Salem RidgeYaks Wednesday night at Segra Park.
Salem hopped aboard first again Wednesday night. Eight hitters came to the dish in the first inning and four came around to score off four hits and a hit batter. Skylar King set the tone in the first with a lead-off double. After that Kleyver Salazar and Starlyn Nunez hit back-to-back RBI singles and Anderson Fermin closed out the scoring with a two RBI single to push the RidgeYaks to a 4-0 advantage.
After the tough first inning, Shane Van Dam (L, 2-6) didn’t allow an earned run over the next four frames. All-in-all, Columbia’s starter spun five innings, allowed five runs (four earned) off nine hits and struck out four RidgeYaks. Next, Dash Albus worked a pair of scoreless innings behind two strikeouts before passing the ball to Andy Basora. Basora worked two scoreless innings to close out the night and keep Columbia close.
Cole Tolbert kept the Fireflies off balance in his start. The righty struck out six over three hitless innings in his ninth appearance of the season.
The Fireflies started to rally in the fourth inning. Stone Russell lifted his third homer of the season to right to get the Fireflies on the board with two outs. In the fifth, Sean Gamble singled with two outs and Yandel Ricardo lined a double to left center on a hit-and-run to score the centerfielder all the way from first to cut Hickory’s lead to 5-2. Across the fourth and fifth, Columbia was able to have five batters reach safely with two outs to fight within striking distance.
Cohen allowed two runs over 2.2 innings. After that Harry Blum (W, 3-2) closed out the sixth and pitched a clean seventh and eighth for Salem. Next, Joey Gartrell (S, 2) allowed a lead-off single in the ninth before retiring the next three batters he faced to earn the save.
The Fireflies continue their series tomorrow night at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Jose Gutierrez (5-3, 3.36 ERA) takes the hill for the Fireflies and Salem counters with RHP Jacob Mayers (2-0, 3.18 ERA).
Tomorrow night is 25 Cent Hot Dog Night on a Budweiser Thirsty Thursday! The Fireflies are celebrating retro pricing to kick-off Capital City Bombers Weekend presented by Cassell Brothers Home Services. Fans can enjoy hot dogs for a quarter and Budweiser for $1.50 from concession stands. Reserve your seat at FirefliesTickets.com.