FLORENCE SC - The Columbia Blowfish (7-11, 19-27) certainly have a flair for the dramatic.
It was only fitting that the game went to extra innings, as the Blowfish staged a late rally, surrendered the tying run in the ninth, then came back with two in the tenth to win a 10-8 contest over the Florence Redwolves (7-10, 26-18) Thursday night.
It was not only a wild one, but an ugly game at American Legion Field by all accounts. The two teams combined for 16 walks, 12 of which came from Blowfish pitchers, and 10 errors on the game. Because of the walks and errors, it appeared the game was going to get out of hand when the Blowfish bullpen imploded during the sixth and seventh innings while struggling to find the strike zone.
Thomas Little (South Carolina), Chad Hodges (Shorter), Andy Podolinski (West Virignia), and Randy Sturgill (California U of PA) combined to issue seven free passes in those innings, as Florence pushed across 5 runs to take a 7-5 lead that looked as if it would be good enough for the victory, even though Florence managed just 2 hits in the sixth and seventh.
But Columbia refused to let it end there. They were able to get a rally started with a run in the eighth after Branfy Arias singled and advanced on an errant pick-off throw. He moved up another 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Demontez Jones (Georgia Southern), then came around to score when Ryan McCormick (Millersville) grounded out. That run cut the deficit in half, and brought the Blowfish within striking distance.
And strike they did in the ninth inning. Taylor Black lead off with a single, then stole second base without so much as a pitch to the plate. Matt Williams (Liberty) capped off an excellent offensive night by launching his third double of the game to tie things up at 7, but Columbia was not done. Max McEleny (San Diego) came on as a pinch hitter for Brison Celek (South Carolina), and laid down a bunt that would have been good for a single. Pitcher Kit Carter (Erskine), however, fired to first in an attempt to throw out McEleny, but the ball ended up in right field, allowing Williams to race around third and score for an 8-7 advantage.
Florence, however, battled back with a tally of their own in the ninth. With one out in the inning, Peter Mooney (South Carolina) launched a double high off the wall in right field to put himself in scoring position as he represented the tying run. After a fly ball for the second out of the inning, Trey Hernandez (Texas A&M- Corpus Christi) missed a walk-off homerun by mere feet, as he launched his own off the top of the wall in right field that tied the game at 8.
The Fish, however, must have had enough. They came out firing in the tenth, as McCormick lead off with a single and advanced on a balk. He would come around to score when Taylor Black (Kentucky) drove a single up the middle to plate the eventual winning run. McEleny added his second infield single in as many innings to put an insurance run on the board and his team ahead 10-8. Stew Brase (Charleston Southern), typically a starter for the team, came on and pitched the bottom of the inning for his first save this year.
This one looked like it was going to be all Columbia early. They trailed by one after the first inning, but that changed rapidly in the third, thanks to RBI singles off the bats of Celek, Jones and Arias that put them up 3-1. After Florence answered with one of their own in the fifth, the Blowfish tagged reliever Patrick Fleming (Campbell) for back-to-back homeruns off the bat of David Greene (Citadel) and Arias, for their fourth and second homeruns of their respective seasons, but it was all undone in the sixth and seventh. It was an ugly two innings for Columbia, as they issued 4 bases loaded walks, and commit three of their six errors on the game in those two innings alone.
NOTES: The six errors on the game were a season-high for Columbia. They are now just 4-13 on the year when they commit 3 errors or more… The Blowfish have now won consecutive games over the Redwolves for the first time since they beat Florence in three straight contests in July 2009… Brase's save tonight was the first of his CPL career… The Blowfish return to Columbia tomorrow to take on the Wilson Tobs at 7:05 in the only match-up of the year between the two. Everyone in attendance will be entered for a chance to win 2 Atlanta Braves tickets to their August 17th game against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field. All college students will be admitted free with student ID.
