Blowfish Fall in Pitcher's Duel

COLUMBIA S.C. - The Columbia Blowfish (12-18) do not seem to like pitcher's duels.

Columbia fell to the Fayetteville SwampDogs (14-17) in their second pitcher's duel in as many days. This time, it was Ryan Prickett (Southeastern Missouri, 3-1) who provided a brilliant start for the opposition.

Prickett was dominant early, allowing just an infield single to Branfy Arias (Tusculum) and a bloop single to Taylor Black (Kentucky) in his first three innings of work. He scattered six hits over seven innings, while striking out nine on the evening. Prickett retired 10 of the last 11 Blowfish he faced. He managed to out-pace the tough-luck loser on the night for Columbia, staff ace Stew Brase (Charleston Southern, 4-3). Brase posted Columbia's second consecutive excellent start in a losing effort. He allowed just two earned runs in 8 2/3 innings of work, walked two batters and struck out five. When asked about Brase after the game, Head Coach Lee Gronkiewicz said:

"I thought he had his best slider of the season, and located his change-up very well. He did a nice job setting up those pitches by locating his fastball down in the zone and getting alot of groundballs."

Prickett pitched with the lead for the entire game, as his offense put him ahead 1-0 before he even took the mound in the first. The second batter of the game for the SwampDogs, Nick Natoli (Towson), walked with one out in the inning. He then stole both second and third base to put himself in scoring position with one out. Third baseman Eric Grabe (Tampa) drove him in with a single to push his team-leading RBI total to 23.

Fayetteville scratched out another run in the fourth inning for what would prove to be the winning tally. First baseman Cory LeVier (San Diego), fresh off his monsterous grand slam from the night before, led off the inning with a single. He advanced to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run with Grabe at the plate. With runners on the corners and no outs, Brase got Chris Wychock (Towson) to ground into his second 6-4-3 double play of the game. LeVier, however, scored from third on the play to push the lead to 2-0.

Columbia had the makings of a rally to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Nick Abrahamson (Virginia Commonwealth) singled to lead off the inning. It was then that Demontez Jones (Georgia Southern) hit a ball right at Wychock for what looked to be a sure double play. The ball skipped off the heel of his glove, and once Wychock recovered, he had no play with the speedy Jones already safe at first. Leadoff hitter Nick Orvin (Citadel) then advanced the runners 90 feet each when he grounded weakly to the pitcher after he was unable to lay down a sacrifice bunt. With men on second and third, and only 1 out, Chase Vergason (Florida Atlantic) hit a groundball to third for the second out of the inning, but Abrahamson alertly broke for home when the throw was made across the diamond, and scored without a throw to make it 2-1. However, Arias, the team's leader in RBIs, grounded out to second base to strand Jones, and end the inning with the tying run on base. The Blowfish also stranded the potential tying run in scoring position in the seventh.

"We need that one timely hit, because hitting is contageous," Coach Gronkiewicz said after the game. "We're putting pressure on teams to pitch quicker with our speed. We just need to start getting timely hitting."

NOTES: Columbia commit zero errors in the game for only the third time this season. Coach Gronkiewicz credited shortstop Taylor Black (Kentucky) in his post game interview for helping solidify the infield defense... The CPL's leading hitter, Jay Cannon (.374 batting average before the game) was 0-4 on the night... Closer Derrick Smith (Erskine) entered the game for Brase and struckout the only batter he faced. He now has 36 strikeouts in 26 innings... The Columbia Blowfish will take on the USC Alumni in their annual battle for the "GameFish Cup" at Capital City stadium Saturday night at 7:05. The game will feature post-game fireworks as part of the Fireworks Extravaganza to celebrate Independence Day weekend. All college students will be admitted free with their school ID.