NORTH AUGUSTA, SC: The GreenJackets were held to just a single hit tonight, with both sides held scoreless until the top of the 8th before the Fireflies secured a 3-0 victory in Augusta.
Both starters were absolutely dominant on the mound, as David Rodriguez and David Shields each worked stellar outings without a run allowed.
Shields fired four rounds of blanks, with a one-out double in the 4th from Eric Hartman serving as Augusta’s lone baserunner not just against Shields, but for the night as a whole.
Rodriguez took the ball as a starter for just the third time this year, and first at SRP Park, and answered the call with his best outing as a pro.
Rodriguez fired six scoreless innings against an offense that scored half a dozen runs last night, scattering three hits and four strikeouts for his first Single-A quality start.
Both bullpens ran with the baton early, with Henson Leal retiring all six hitters he faced in the 5th and 6th, while Colson Lawrence made his debut with a 1-2-3 7th before running into trouble in the 8th.
The scoreless duel ended on Columbia’s first batter that inning, with Milo Rushford crushing a two-strike fastball beyond the right field wall for his 2nd homer of the year, and the game’s first run.
While Dash Albus continued Leal’s trend of perfect relief, the Fireflies pushed the game out of reach in the top of the 9th against Trent Buchanan.
Buchanan allowed two hits and two walks in his only inning, which led to a pair of runs on a Henry Ramos single and a wild pitch.
The Augusta offense went out with a whimper, setting themselves down 1-2-3 in the 9th against closer Julio Rosario for his 5th save of the year.
All told, Columbia retired the last 17 batters faced, including all 15 faced by the bullpen. The win was Columbia’s first one-hit pitching performance since July of 2019, and the first 9-inning occurrence of the same nature since June of that year.
The GreenJackets attempt to right the ship tomorrow behind Owen Hackman, as Augusta celebrated Independence Day one evening early with fireworks and specialty patriotic jerseys worn on the field.
Following Thursday, July 3, the two teams will continue their series up in Columbia, with Segra Park hosting the weekend festivities with fireworks each night.
