WILSON, N.C. - The Wilson Warbirds fell behind the Columbia Fireflies early and could not crawl back, falling 8-3 on Saturday night at Wilson Ballpark.
Columbia (56-55, 22-23 second half) scored two runs in the top of the first inning, with Yandel Ricardo singling in Henry Ramos and Roni Cabrera bunting in Ricardo.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first, Wilson (59-51, 23-21 second half) brought a run back with two outs, and a Handelfry Encarnacion double brought in Brailyn Antunez.
Columbia took to the bats again in the second with another two runs to go up 4-1. Ramos drove in a run with a base hit, and Daniel Lopez came around on a balk.
The Fireflies weren’t finished, as Connor Rasmussen crushed a two-run home run in the top of the third inning to extend the lead to 6-1.
The Warbirds could not muster enough offense to erase the five-run deficit, falling 8-3 despite recording 12 hits.
Diustin Mayorquin (L, 2-1) was the losing pitcher for the first time as a Warbird. Jose Gutierrez (W, 9-4) earned his league-leading ninth victory.
The series concludes tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. RHP Luke Roupe (1-0, 3.00) will make his first start as a Warbird. LHP Darwin Rodriguez (5-6, 4.01) has the ball for Columbia. Tickets for tomorrow’s game are available at WilsonWarbirds.com or by calling (919) 269-2287.