Columbia, SC - Angel Mateo’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning provided the only scoring in a 1-0 victory for the Charleston RiverDogs over the Columbia Fireflies on Saturday night at Segra Park. The shutout victory was the team’s 15th of the season, the most in the Carolina League. The Fireflies have not mustered a run over the last 20.0 innings of play.
The game began as a stalemate, with neither offense able to generate an attack against the opposing starter. Trevor Harrison limited Columbia (33-32, 68-62) to just two hits over 5.0 scoreless innings in his final start of the regular season. Meanwhile, Jonatan Bernal of the Fireflies also kept a zero on the board over his 6.0 innings. He needed just two strikeouts to do it.
Nothing changed against the bullpens through the first nine innings of the contest. T.J. Nichols came on in relief and allowed just one hit over 4.0 scoreless innings of his own. On the other hand, the RiverDogs (41-23, 68-61) had tallied only a single from Enderson Delgado through the first nine innings.
The extra frame began with Adrian Santana at second base and the middle of the order at the plate. Aidan Smith lined a hot shot toward right field on the first pitch of the inning, but first baseman Callan Moss snatched it out of the air. Emilien Pitre put runners on the corners by beating out an infield single on a bouncer to short. In the next at-bat, Mateo lifted a fly ball to shallow left-center. Center fielder Erick Torres made the catch and fired toward the plate but was off target as Santana scored easily.
Andy Rodriguez took over in the bottom of the 10th with the tying run at second base. The righthander induced soft contact from all three hitters to close the game in quick fashion and earn his second save. Rodriguez has worked 14.2 consecutive scoreless innings over his last eight appearances.
LHP Jeremy Pilon (1-0, 1.64) is scheduled to work first for the RiverDogs in the final game of the regular season. Columbia will come back with Tuesday’s starter, RHP Yunior Marte (0-0, 2.08) for his second outing of the series. First pitch is slated for 5:05 p.m.
The RiverDogs have qualified for the 2024 Carolina League postseason for a fourth year in a row. Tickets are available for the playoff opener on September 10 at riverdogs.com/tickets.
Charleston 1, Columbia 0 (10 Innings)
September 7, 2024
Click here for the box score
Charleston (R-H-E): 1-2-1
Columbia (R-H-E): 0-3-0
Win: Nichols (4-6)
Loss: Novas (0-4)
Save: Rodriguez (2)
HR: Charleston: None
HR: Columbia: None
