Columbia 5 - Lexington 3

LEXINGTON, KY – Zac Grotz hurled eight spectacular innings and Columbia blasted four homers en route to a 5-3 win over Lexington on Sunday.

Grotz logged eight fantastic frames, allowed just two runs, struck out six and picked up the win. The righty – signed by the Mets just a week and a half ago – has now logged 15.2 innings in back to back starts and has not walked a single batter.

For the second time in franchise history, the Fireflies whacked four homers in a game:

2^nd inning – Raphael Gladu (1^st of the season), 400 feet / 103 mph exit velocity

3^rd – Edgardo Fermin (5^th), 330 feet

4^th – Quinn Brodey (7^th), 401 feet

5^th – Blake Tiberi (2^nd), 341 feet

The only other time Columbia (2-2, 36-35) tallied four in a game was on May 24, 2016 (Luis Ortega, Dash Winningham, Ivan Wilson, Kevin Kaczmarski) when the Fireflies stomped Augusta at Spirit Communications Park, 14-2.

Lexington (0-4, 37-35) sliced the lead in half with a run in the third (at the time trailing 2-0). After Cal Jones was hit by a pitch, Brewer Hicklen drove the speedy runner home with a base hit into the left-center field gap.

In the sixth, Lexington had the bases loaded twice, but only came away with one run. It was M.J. Melendez’s infield single that scored the frame’s only run. With no outs, Grotz first struck Nick Pratto out looking and then Seuly Matias lined into a double play.

The team’s traded runs in the ninth, but it was Trey Cobb who shut the door and wound up recording his team-best eighth save of the year.