Columbia, SC - The Fredericksburg Nationals fell for the first time on the road trip, 7-4 to the Columbia Fireflies. The offense went silent, gathering just one hit in the final five innings, as the pitching staff struggled with control, walking ten in the game.
It was a strong start for the offense today. In the top of the 1st, Coy James walked, stole second, then scored on a Juan Cruz RBI double. After Grant Manning worked out of a bases loaded no out jam in the bottom of the 1st, the offense came through again in the top of the 2nd. After Rafael Ramirez and Nick Peoples got into scoring position, Gavin Fien brought them both home with a two RBI single to make it 3-0.
After threatening but not doing any damage in the 1st two innings, Columbia’s offense finally broke through in the bottom of the 3rd. The Fireflies loaded the bases with two outs, and then cleared them as Henry Ramos sent a ball into right field. Dashyll Tejeda tried to pick it up quickly to make it just a one RBI hit, but the ball snuck under his glove, and the bases cleared. The Fireflies exited the bottom of the third leading 5-3.
It didn’t take long for the offense to bounce back though. Jamison Jones led off the top of the 4th with his 7th home run of the season, a moonshot that left the ballpark in left field. In the bottom of the 4th, the Fireflies loaded the bases again, this time bringing two across on a Henry Ramos two RBI single that made it 7-4.
With the loss, the FredNats drop to 6-5 in the second half, but stay an impressive 27 games above .500 at 52-25. They’ll look to get back into the win column tomorrow as rehabbing RHP Travis Stehle gets his first start of the year against RHP Jose Gutierrz. First pitch at Segra Park is set for 7:05 PM.