Blowfish Take Care of Peninsula

COLUMBIA - It's always crucial to win in front of the home crowd, even a small one.
    On a Saturday night in which the majority of Columbia baseball fans were undoubtedly watching the University of South Carolina and Clemson play in the College World Series semifinal, the Columbia Blowfish (11-16) shut down the Peninsula Pilots (13-14) late to hang on 5-4 at Capital City Stadium.
    Chase Vergason (Florida Atlantic) was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs and reliever Derrick Smith (Erskine) did not allow a baserunner in the final three innings as Columbia held on in the rain.
    "(Vergason) is really locked in right now," Coach Lee Gronkiewicz said afterwards, "When you're hot, you get things to fall."
    Stew Brase (Charleston Southern, 4-2) was credited with the win despite a short outing in which he gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings. Ben Tomchick (Old Dominion, 2-4) took the loss after surrendering five runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings. Smith faced the minimum in his three innings of relief work to pick up his second save of the season.
    The Blowfish took the lead right away in the first. Vergason hit a double and Branfy Arias (Tusculum) walked to put two aboard with two outs for Bryan Hill (Union). Hill followed through with a deep drive that took a strange bounce off the left field wall, allowing Hill to reach third with a two-run triple to plate Vergason and Arias and put Columbia up 2-0.
    Peninsula was able to get one across in the second. Logan Robbins (Western Kentucky) led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a groundout. John Lynch (Norfolk St) came through with an RBI single to bring Robbins around and trim the lead down, 2-1.
    The Blowfish added a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. Dadynoel Lorenzo (Shorter) singled with one out and stole second. A Ryan McCormick (Millersville) base hit put runners on the corners and Nick Orvin (Citadel) brought Lorenzo home with a groundout to extend the lead 3-1.
    But the Pilots had another productive inning in store. Brase walked Jimmy Holton (Charleston) and gave up a single to Ivan Hartle (Western Kentucky) to put the first two aboard. After a sac bunt, Chas Crane (Winthrop) brought both Holton and Hartle home to tie the game 3-3. Another Peninsula run in the fifth gave them the lead. Former Blowfish Jim Rider hit his first home run of the season with a solo shot to make it 4-3 Peninsula.
    But this time, the Blowfish had the last laugh with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Vergason picked up his second double with one out and scored on Arias's double to tie the game. Arias himself scored the eventual game-winner on Brison Celek's RBI single up the middle.
    After that, Chad Hodges (Shorter) and Smith came out of the bullpen to shut down the Pilots. Both pitchers faced the minimum. Smith picked up six strikeouts to move into the team lead with 34.
    NOTES: Both teams were gathered with the stadium staff in the Pepsi Stadium Club after the game to watch the end of the USC-Clemson game. South Carolina won 4-3... Hodges picked up his league-leading 10th pickoff, nailing David Coleman (Virginia) off first. Hodges single-handedly has more pick-offs than every other team in the Coastal Plain League... Vergason's production on the night improves him to 10 for his last 13 at Capital City Stadium... It was the only meeting of the year between the two squads. Columbia has never lost to the Pilots and is now 5-0 all time against them... Columbia will hit the road for three consecutive games, starting Monday night at Morehead City. The Blowfish return home on Friday, July 2nd against Fayetteville for the first night of the Fireworks Extravaganza. Fireworks will follow the game.