Columbia Fireflies struggle at plate in defeat

Greenville Drive hitters are quickly becoming accustomed to Spirit Communications Park.

Greenville hit three solo home runs and got a dominating pitching performance to defeat Columbia 5-3 on Saturday night.

The Drive has hit five homers over the past two games in the Fireflies’ new ballpark.

“Keeping the ball down is going to prevent those balls from going out of this park. The ball travels pretty good,” Columbia manager Jose Leger said. “Our pitchers made those mistakes up in the zone. If you make mistakes like that and the good hitters they have, they will make you pay.”

Roldani Baldwin, Kyri Washington and Trenton Kemp all had solo homers for the Drive. It was the second straight game Kemp hit a homer.

Baldwin homered to lead off the fourth to give Greenville a 3-2 lead.

The Drive’s pitching backed up the offense as three pitchers combined for a four-hitter. Greenville’s pitchers retired 13 straight between the fifth and eighth innings.

Kuehl McEachern pitched three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win for Greenville.

“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Leger said. “Their starter did a good job, and so did their bullpen.”

Greenville scored twice in the top of the first on Michael Chavis’ two-run single off starter Kevin Canelon to score Luis Alejandro Basabe and Chad de la Guerra, who doubled and singled, respectively, to start the game.

Columbia tied it in the third with a pair of runs. Left fielder Joe Tuschak hit a solo homer to lead off the inning. It was the first homer by a Fireflies player at home this season, and second overall for Columbia.

Shortstop J.C. Rodriguez tied the game at 2-2 on an RBI single, scoring Ivan Wilson. But Columbia didn’t have another hit until Vinny Siena’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: Greenville reliever Kuehl McEachern pitched three perfect innings of relief with four strikeouts.

Play of the game: Roldani Baldwin led off the fourth inning with solo homer to give Greenville a 3-2 lead.

Stat of the game: Five of Greenville’s seven hits were extra-base hits and all came after the first inning.

OBSERVATIONS

Canelon sharp in the loss: After a rough start in which he gave up two runs and three hits to the first three batters, Columbia’s Kevin Canelon turned in a strong effort in the loss. The left-hander struck out seven and allowed three runs on five hits in five innings.

Thompson streak continues: Columbia third baseman David Thompson’s RBI infield single in the bottom of the ninth extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Roster move: Columbia placed catcher Jose Garcia on the disabled list and activated Natanael Ramos, who hit .257 in 24 games at Brooklyn and Savannah last season.

NEXT

What: Greenville at Columbia

When: Sunday, 2:05 p.m.

Where: Spirit Communications Park

Probable pitchers: Greenville’s Matt Kent (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Columbia’s Tyler Badamo (1-0, 1.50 ERA)

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Columbia Fireflies struggle at plate in defeat."