Blowfish Blunders Lead to Shark Bite
WILMINGTON- Starting pitcher Stew Brase (Charleston Southern) had not allowed a hit all night. Suddenly, a muffed pop-up by Brase caused a barrage of them.
The Wilmington Sharks (4-5) took advantage of some costly errors by the Columbia Blowfish (4-6) to ignite a seventh inning rally that allowed them to cruise to a 9-2 victory Tuesday evening.
The bottom of the seventh started off with what appeared to be a harmless pop fly in the infield. Brase, however, was unable to hang onto the ball as it fell to the grass. Brase was seemingly rattled by the error that allowed the first Wilmington base runner since Richie Allen (Eastern Kentucky) walked to lead off the game. Brase then allowed a double to the very next batter, Nate Horton (Presbyertian), into right center field to plate Yogi Gunther (Palm Beach Atlantic).
After a flyout recorded the first out of the inning, the floodgates were unleashed. Matt Willis (Barton) reached on a Will Callaway (Appalachian State) error that moved Horton to third. Then, with runners on the corners, Ben Fish (Campbell) laced a double that drove home two runs and put the Sharks ahead for good.
Wilmington would go on to add 4 more runs in the inning to put the game well out of reach. Allen drew his second walk of the game, and then scored on the Chris Mazza (Menlo) double. After 2 straight singles produced another run, Horton launched his second double of the inning, and the third Shark double of the inning, to plate two more runs.
The Blowfish appeared to be in control early in the game, with Brase dominating on the mound. After allowing a four pitch walk to start the game, Brase then retired the next 13 Wilmington hitters. They led 2-0 entering the seventh, courtesy of some small ball. Ryan McCormick (Millersville University) was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a balk. Demontez Jones (Georgia Southern) bunted to advance the runner to third and was able to beat out the throw to reach safely with an infield single. McCormick scored on a wild pitch by the Sharks Justin Bradley (UNC-Wilmington) and Branfy Arias (Tusculum) then singled in Jones to double the Blowfish advantage.
Miscues were again the order of the night for the Blowfish. In addition to committing 3 errors for the second consecutive game, they were unable to capitalize on several opportunities on the offensive end, as well. They stranded a total of 9 base runners on the evening, including runners on second and third in both the third and fifth inning.
The Sharks tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning. Andy Podolinski (West Virginia) allowed a Matt Willis (Barton) homerun to lead off the inning, then Allen brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to right field that pushed the score to 9-2.
Notes: Blowfish first baseman Brison Celek was called out in the top of the 8th inning for an apparent illegal bat, although the exact reason is unknown… The Blowfish have committed 15 errors in their last 5 games…Columbia travels to Fayetteville tomorrow to take on the SwampDogs at 7:05 pm…The Blowfish return home to Capital City Stadium on Thursday to take on the SwampDogs, also at 7:05 pm. It will be Thirsty Thursday, meaning all 12 ounce sodas and beers will be only $1.
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