Fayetteville Stomps Blowfish 13-8

COLUMBIA - On a night that each team's pitchers undoubtedly felt like they were lobbing up beach balls instead of baseballs, the Columbia Blowfish and Fayetteville Swampdogs combined for 21 runs on 26 hits and 7 errors, but Fayetteville emerged victorious 13-8 Friday night at Capital City Stadium.  
    In the end, a Fayetteville five-run fourth and four-run fifth proved too much for the Blowfish, as they just couldn't rally with enough runs late in the game. Ryan Longstreth (Central Michigan, 2-3) picked up the win despite giving up eight runs (five earned) on nine hits in 5.2 innings. His counterpart for Columbia, John Long (East Tennessee St, 1-2), had a rougher night, surrendering seven runs (though only two earned) on eight hits in four innings. Long also walked four and had two costly wild pitches.
    The offenses got going in the second. Fayetteville's Nick Natoli (Towson) singled, stole second, and scored on Nathaniel Lami's (South Alabama) RBI single to give the SwampDogs a 1-0 lead.
    The Blowfish tied it 1-1 in the bottom frame when Shawn Glover (Erskine) doubled and came around on a Demontez Jones (Charleston Southern) grounder that SwampDogs third baseman Jimmy Roesinger (Dayton) threw wildly to first for an error. Roesinger finished the night with all three of the Fayetteville errors.
    Fayetteville too the lead back in the third after Jay Cannon (Brunswick CC) doubled, then moved to third and home on two wild pitches by Long to make it 2-1 SwampDogs.
    But Columbia took the lead in the bottom of the inning. With two aboard and one out, Brison Celek (South Carolina) hit an RBI groundout to score Chase Vergason (Florida Atlantic) and move Branfy Arias (Tusculum) over to third. Arias later broke for and stole home to give the Blowfish a 3-2 advantage.
    But a five-run fifth put Fayetteville well ahead. With one out and a runner on second, Nick Orvin (Citadel) and Arias dropped back-to-back fly balls to load the bases and things fell apart after that. Cannon brought home a pair with a double and Eric Grabe (Tampa) scored two more with a base hit. Chris Wychock (Towson) then plated Grabe with a double to give Fayetteville a 7-3 lead.
    The SwampDogs followed with a four-run fifth. Benton Yaun (Georgia College & St) doubled, then later scored on Roesinger's RBI fielder's choice. Two batters later, Cannon hit another two-run double and stole third to put himself in position for Corey LeVier's (San Diego) sacrifice fly to give Fayetteville a commanding 11-3 lead.
    But the Blowfish weren't going quietly. Arias hit a sacrifice fly to score Orvin in the fifth before Columbia put four across in the sixth. Glover reached on Roesinger's third error and moved to second on Jones's single. A double steal put both into scoring position for Ryan McCormick (Millersville), who followed suit with an RBI single. After an Orvin walk loaded the bases, Vergason then scored Jones and McCormick with an RBI single to right, but Orvin got caught off second for the inning's second out. An Arias double then brought Vergason around to make it interesting, 11-8 Fayetteville.
    But the SwampDogs shut down any further rally with a two-run seventh. Two straight singles followed by a two-run double by LeVier gave Fayetteville its final 13-8 margin.
    NOTES: Arias steal of home was the second in as many games for Columbia... Vergason led all Columbia hitters, going 4-for-5 with two doubles. He's now 7-for-10 in his past two home games... Fayetteville now holds a 5-1 lead on the season series... Columbia is right back at it tomorrow at the Cap. The Blowfish will take on the Peninsula Pilots Saturday night at 7:05 pm. It will be Mr Knozit Night. All fans who can show they were on Joe Pinner's "Mr Knozit" television show will receive free admission to the game. Kids can also play catch on the field with the team before the game.