Fireflies fall in opener of road trip
Columbia center fielder Enmanuel Zabala smashed three nearly identical line-drive singles up the middle in Wednesday night’s series opener against the Hagerstown Suns, but the Fireflies fell short, losing 4-2. It was Zabala’s first three-hit game of the season.
Hagerstown (17-9, 60-36) opened with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first where an error hurt starter Joe Shaw (4-7). Hagerstown went up 4-0 in the fourth when Ian Sagdal knocked in his 41st run of the season.
Columbia (6-19, 42-53) chipped away at the deficit in the fifth. The Fireflies plated their lone run off of Taylor Guilbeau (2-1) when Zabala laced his first single back up the box and moved to second base when J.C. Rodriguez walked. Two batters later, Vicente Lupo singled to score Zabala.
In the seventh, Zabala set the table with another single, stole second base, and thanks to an errant throw from Suns catcher Jakson Reetz, advanced to third base. Tucker Tharp’s sacrifice fly brought Zabala home.
Fireflies relievers Gabriel Feliz (making his Columbia debut), Witt Haggard and Nicco Blank all hurled scoreless innings. The trio struck out five batters.
Columbia searches for its first win against Hagerstown on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. again at Municipal Stadium. Right-hander Chase Ingram (4-9, 5.55) and Suns righty Jefry Rodriguez (7-5, 4.15) duke it out on the mound.