HAMPTON, Va- Three players homered and Justin Hopper pitched six strong innings as the Columbia Blowfish powered their way past the Peninsula Pilots 12-5 Wednesday night at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, Va.
Hopper (2-0) allowed only two runs on three hits in six innings to earn the win. He did give up three walks, but also struck out four. Cory Toth (0-2) gave up four runs on six hits in the loss.
Every starter got a base hit for Columbia. The Blowfish put the game away early with a six-run second inning. Branfry Arias hit an RBI double to score Cameron White, then Jason Coker cleared the bases with a three-run home run over the left field wall. Later in the inning, Sean Sullivan singled home Matt Leeds, and Shawn Glover reached on a muffed throw by Pilots' first baseman Mike Margenthaler to score Oliver Santos, as Columbia moved ahead 6-0.
Arias hit his first homer of the season with a three-run blast in the fifth, scoring Glover and White to give the Blowfish a 9-0 lead.
Peninsula put across two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth after Logan Robbins hit a two-run home run to cut the lead 9-2.
Glover hit his second homer of the summer with a two-run shot to right, giving Columbia 12-2 advantage in the eighth.
Arias finished the night 4-for-4 with four RBIs and was a triple short of the cycle.
Notes:
It was the first multi-homer game for Columbia, they hit two in their past 11 games entering Wednesday.... The Blowfish reached season highs for hits (17) and runs (12)... It was the only meeting of the year between the two teams...The Blowfish will stay in Virginia Thursday, taking on the Petersburg Generals at 7:05 p.m.
