Columbia 2 - Rome 1

PC - Ed Delany

ROME, GA – Ronny Mauricio tallied another four hits and Walter Rasquin knocked in two critical runs on Wednesday at State Mutual Stadium. The duo led Columbia to a 2-1 win over Rome in the series finale. The Fireflies took two out of three from the Braves and won their second series against their Southern Division rivals this season.

Columbia (6-7) closed out the road trip with a 3-4 mark. The Fireflies finished the trip winning three out of the final four after dropping the first three in Lexington.

Rasquin slammed two clutch two-out run-scoring singles in the fifth and seventh innings. The first scored Mauricio after he smashed his first triple of the year and the second plated Jose Miguel Medina.

It’s Mauricio’s second four-hit game in 3 days. The 18-year-old Mets prospect went 4-for-6 at the dish on Sunday against Lexington. Mauricio is hitting .346 for the Fireflies through 12 games.

Jaison Vilera (W, 1-1) picked up the win for the visitors. He posted six scoreless innings, scattered three hits, struck out seven and didn’t walk any Rome (5-8) hitters. Bryce Hutchinson and Ezequiel Zabaleta (S, 3), were clutch pitching in the late innings. Zabaleta is 3-for-3 in save chances.

SCORING SUMMARY:

Top 5: Ronny Mauricio triples and scores on Walter Rasquin’s single. COL 1, ROM 0

Top 7: Rasquin plates another run with a base hit. COL 2, ROM 0

Bottom 7: Greg Cullen scores from third on an error. COL 2, ROM 1

Columbia heads back home to begin a three-game series against the Hickory Crawdads on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

PROBABLES: RHP Christian James (Columbia) vs. RHP Ronny Henriquez (Hickory)

FIRST PITCH: 4/18/19, 7:05 ET

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