Fireflies Face Greenville in Saturday Night Contest
By: Fireflies
Columbia Fireflies (9-7) @ Greenville Drive (9-7)
RHP Tyler Badamo (1-1, 5.73) vs. RHP Anderson Espinoza (1-1, 2.40)
Saturday, April 23, 2016 — Fluor Field (Greenville, SC) — First Pitch 7:05 p.m. — Game 17
LISTEN: WGCV 620 AM / ColumbiaFireflies.com / TuneIn Radio App
ABOUT LAST GAME: For a second straight night, Columbia scored the go-ahead runs in the ninth inning, and defeated Greenville on Friday, 5-3. The Fireflies erased a two-run deficit and then broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning. Columbia has won three in a row and four of its last five.
RBI KING: The former Miami Hurricane star, David Thompson, has now plated 18 runs this season. He’s tops in the South Atlantic League in that department. Thompson spoke to MiLB about his success: “I’m always trying to have a positive attitude. I definitely struggled a lot last year. I think it’s good to have your struggles, and I’m glad it was early. I learned to keep going to the field every day, try to stay positive.”
RBI LEADERS: Here are the RBI leaders in all of professional baseball through Saturday:
- Bryce Harper, 22 — Washington Nationals (NL)
- Mike Zunino, 20 — Tacoma Rainiers (AAA, Mariners)
- David Thompson, 18 — Columbia Fireflies (A, Mets)
NO LEAD IS SAFE: Not when Columbia plays at Fluor Field, that is. Twice in two nights, the Fireflies wiped away deficits to win. On Thursday, the Fireflies trailed 9-8 heading to the ninth inning (and won 13-9), and on Friday, trailed the Drive 2-0 heading to the sixth frame (winning 5-3).
LOVE THE LONG BALL: Jeff Diehl and Josh Ockimey smacked home runs on Friday. Columbia and Greenville have faced off six times this season. In those six games, there have been a combined 16 home runs socked between the two teams. That’s nearly three per game.
THE OTHER GUYS: Columbia has taken the first two games of the four-game series from the South Atlantic League’s top home-run hitting team. The Drive have clubbed 24 in 16 games. The next closest teams (Lakewood and Hickory), have 13.
