MOREHEAD CITY NC – The Columbia Blowfish (2-8, 14-23) have
struggled against CPL South Divison opponents this year. With the exception,
that is, of the Morehead City Marlins (5-3, 20-16).
Columbia improved to 5-4 against their South Division
rivals with a 9-4 victory at Big Rock Stadium that featured a big inning
offensively for the Fish for the second consecutive night, and a solid pitching
performance from starter Jake Zokan (College of Charleston, 2-2).
The Marlins struck first with three runs in the home half
of the third. Brian Litwin (Duke) walked to lead off the inning and moved to
second on a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout swinging by Justyn Carter (St.
Peters), a single by Joe Schlafini (Dartmouth) put runners on the corners for
Luke Smierciak (Florida Gulf Coast). He launched a double that plated both
runners, then scored when Chad Oberacker (Tennessee Tech) singled to put the
Marlins up 3-0.
At this point, the game was beginning to look eerily similar
to the last time the Blowfish faced Marlins starter Ben White (Temple, 3-2),
when White struck out 12 in six innings. He had faced just one over the minimum
through his first four innings, striking out four in the process. He allowed
only two base runners, one on a bunt single by Demontez Jones (Georgia
Southern), who was immediately picked off, and a walk to Branfy Arias
(Tusculum).
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the Blowfish exploded
with the bats and with their speed. Shawn Glover (Erskine) singled to lead off
the inning, then took off for second as Taylor Black (Kentucky) laid down a
bunt. Both runners were safe as the first baseman Preston Shuey (Francis
Marion) fielded the bunt while the Marlins second baseman Justyn Carter covered
second with Glover taking off on the pitch. Glover followed by swiping third
base, and came around to score on a single by Nick Abrahamson (Virginia
Commonwealth). Black, who advanced to second on the hit, took third with the
second stolen base of the inning. That brought up Jones and the suicide squeeze
was on. Jones laid down a perfect bunt, and Black was safe on the play as the
throw went down to first and the Blowfish closed the deficit to 3-2.
Then, with two out and Abrahamson on second, Arias
stepped up to the plate. He drove a 1-2 pitch over the right field wall for his
first homerun of the CPL 2010 season and put his team ahead 4-2. The Fish went
on to plate two more runs on the inning courtesy of an RBI single by Chase
Vergason (Florida Atlantic) and a run scoring double off the bat of David
Greene (Citadel) as the Blowfish moved ahead 6-3.
Columbia tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning, by
way of a bases-loaded walk by Ryan McCormick (Millersville), and a sacrifice
fly by Arias. They added 1 more in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Abrahamson
to push the score to 9-3, before the Marlins added a tally in the ninth to move
the final to 9-4.
With the exception of the third inning, Zokan cruised
through his 6 2/3 innings of work. He struck out five Morehead City hitters on
his night, and walked just two. He allowed just two Marlin base runners outside
of the third inning, both of those coming in the seventh to bring the tying run
to the plate. With two on and the tying run at the plate, Thomas Little was brought
in. The South Carolina product allowed a single by Carter to load the bases
before getting Schlafini to ground weakly to first base. Little covered the bag
in time to beat a diving attempt from Schlafini to end the inning.
NOTES: Columbia
swiped a total of 10 bases to push their league-leading total to 122 and move
them within 22 of the all-time mark for team stolen bases in a single season… The Blowfish commit only 1 error late in the
game. That gives them 1 in their last 2 games… Marlins pitchers issues 7 walks
on the evening. 4 of those came from starting CF Chad Oberacker, who faced four
batters in the 8th… The Blowfish return to the Cap tomorrow to take on the
Wilmington Sharks. It will be Guaranteed Win Night. If the Fish do not win, all
fans in attendance will receive free admission to the next home game. All college
students will be admitted free with school ID.
