Fireflies Offense Shatters Record Book In Victory

LEXINGTON, KY (Fireflies) – Columbia’s offense erupted with a franchise record 16 runs on Wednesday afternoon. The Fireflies dominated the Legends in game one of this series, 16-2, at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Dan Rizzie became the second Firefly in the organization’s history to register a five-hit contest. Jacob Zanon also cracked the record books. The 22-year-old is the first Firefly to score four runs in one game.

Columbia (10-15, 50-43) tallied 12 of its 16 runs in the first four innings. Leading 3-0 after two frames, the visitors piled four runs on the board in the third. Rizzie and Dash Winningham produced run-scoring singles. Jay Jabs and Colby Woodmansee each executed RBI groundouts. The Fireflies held a 7-0 advantage after three stanzas.

Jabs and Rizzie lifted the squad again in the fourth inning. Rizzie drilled an RBI double into the outfield and Jabs launched a three-run homer. It’s the 22-year-old’s fifth home run of the season. This was part of a five-run fourth frame and the team held a 12-1 lead over Lexington (13-11, 47-46). The Fireflies were in cruise control the whole game and scored four additional runs in the seventh inning.

Every Firefly had at least one hit in the contest. Zanon, Winningham, Rizzie, Woodmansee, Luis Carpio, and Andres Gimenez all delivered with multi-hit games. Gimenez documented his fourth three-hit affair in 2017. The club logged a season-high 19 hits in the convincing victory.

Chase Ingram (W, 1-0) made his first start with the Fireflies on Wednesday. The righty lasted five innings, allowed just one run, and had six strikeouts. Ingram playing in Columbia during the inaugural season in 2016. He joined the team on Monday. The bullpen was sharp as well for the Fireflies. Joe Zanghi and Matt Pobereyko tossed a combined four innings and posted five strikeouts.

The Fireflies face the Lexington Legends in game two of this series on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Lefty Blake Taylor (1-9, 4.92) is scheduled to start for Columbia and southpaw Andre Davis (5-2, 4.64) is set to pitch for Lexington.

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.