Fireflies sweep Augusta on “Wag Along Wednesday”
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COLUMBIA, SC (Fireflies) – Merandy Gonzalez posted a career night and earned his seventh win of the season on Wednesday at Spirit Communications Park. Columbia defeated Augusta, 4-3, and garnered its second sweep over the club in 2017. The Fireflies are 7-0 at home against the GreenJackets.
Gonzalez (W, 7-1) rolled through six innings on the mound for Columbia (27-23) and registered a career-high 10 strikeouts. The 21-year-old absorbed nine hits and operated out of two pivotal situations against Augusta (14-34). He stranded the bases loaded in the first inning and then left two runners on base in the fourth frame. The Dominican native finished with 98 pitches.
Adam Atkins, Joe Zanghi, and Max Kuhns all dazzled on the hill out of the bullpen – allowing just one run over three frames and four strikeouts. Kuhns earned his third save of the season and continued his masterful scoreless stretch. The 22-year-old has not allowed a run in his last 15.1 innings out of the bullpen.
The Fireflies tallied two runs right off the bat in the first inning. Gene Cone led off with a single and Andres Gimenez was hit by a pitch, which put runners at first and second base. With one out, Dash Winningham reached on a throwing error by first baseman Jose Vizcaino Jr.; his throw sailed over the third-base bag (hoping to get the lead runner) and allowed Cone to come around and score – Gimenez to third. Luis Carpio produced an RBI groundout, which plated Gimenez.
Tim Tebow helped the offense with an infield single in the second inning and then advanced to second on a throwing error from third baseman Cristian Paulino. Cone delivered with another single and scored Tebow. Columbia added one more run two stanzas later and led 4-1 after four innings.
Melvin Adon (L, 0-5) lasted four innings as Augusta’s starter and yielded four runs, but just one was earned. The Fireflies took advantage of three errors from the GreenJackets in the contest.
The Fireflies travel to Maryland and begin a four-game series with Hagerstown on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. against the Suns at Municipal Stadium. It will be the only series against the Suns this season.
You can listen to the action on ESPN Columbia 94.9 FM and 1230 AM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the TuneIn Radio app starting at 6:45 p.m.
