Fireflies storm back to take third game of series with Lexington

LEXINGTON, KY (Fireflies) – After falling in the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday, the Fireflies bounced back with a 5-4 victory over Lexington on Wednesday afternoon. Columbia can win three of four from the Legends with a series finale win on Thursday.

Columbia (3-4, 43-32) received contributions from up and down the lineup card. Andres Gimenez, Brandon Brosher and Arnaldo Berrios all plated runs. The visitors only needed two arms to tame the Legends. Harol Gonzalez (W, 5-5) gutted through 6.2 innings before reliever Adonis Uceta finished the job. The righty picked up his seventh save in the process and struck out three.

It was Brosher who made the immediate impact in the first frame. Gimenez singled to begin the game. Two batters later, Jacob Zanon reached on an error. With the runners in motion, Brosher clubbed a scorcher off the right-field wall to clear the bases. Columbia led, 2-0.

The teams traded runs in consecutive frames from the third to the fifth. Lexington (3-4, 37-39) cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the third. Afterword, the Fireflies pulled back ahead, 3-1. Brosher singled with one out in the fourth and then swiped second base. Berrios knocked him in with a base hit up the middle.

The Legends would not go away in the home half of the fourth. Manny Olloque doubled in Emmanuel Rivera and were once again within a run.

Milton Ramos began the fifth with a base hit. It didn’t take long for Ramos to score; the next hitter – Gimenez – tripled and Ramos scored all the way from first. Gimenez stomped on home moments later whenLuis Carpio reached on an error.

Columbia’s once seemingly safe 5-2 advantage shrunk in the seventh. Lexington loaded the bases with two outs. Gonzalez was lifted for Uceta with Joe Dudek at the plate. The lefty lifted a towering fly ball into shallow left field. Three fielders converged at the spot but the pop-up fell in, scoring two. Uceta then retired Gabriel Cancel to end the inning.

The South Atlantic League All-Star would protect the one-run lead in each of the next two innings, clinching the 5-4 win.

Gimenez finished with three hits – his second three-hit game of the series. Brosher and Ali Sanchez also wound up with a pair of hits each.

The series finale between Columbia and Lexington is Thursday at 7:05 p.m. from Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Right-hander Gabriel Llanes (4-4, 3.02) starts for the Fireflies and faces righty Ofreify Gomez (4-7, 4.33) for the Legends.

You can listen to the action on ESPN Columbia 94.9 FM and 1230 AM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and on the TuneIn app starting at 6:45 p.m.