Blowfish Fall in Petersburg

PETERSBURG, Va – The Petersburg Generals took advantage of a four-run second inning to pull ahead early as they defeated the Columbia Blowfish 6-2 at the Petersburg Sports Complex Thursday night.

            Columbia starting pitcher Jeremiah Meiners’s (1-2) night ended in the second after giving up five runs on seven hits in just over an inning for the loss. Petersburg’s (2-0) Jerry Battapaglia gave up two runs -one earned- on six hits in six innings for the win.  

            The Blowfish (5-8) scored first for the third game in a row. Jim Rider reached first base on an error by Generals’ second baseman Andre Nichols and scored later in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Shawn Glover.

            Petersburg (6-6) quickly responded in the bottom half of the first. Justin Bencsko singled and later scored on an RBI single by Kevin Quaranto to tie the game 1-1.

            The first six Generals’ batters reached base to start the second inning. Drew Lydon doubled and then scored on a bloop single by Eric Curtis. Meiners later walked Bencsko with the bases loaded to give Petersburg a 3-1 advantage. An RBI single by Nichols followed by a Ronnie Shaban sacrifice fly made it 5-1 Petersburg.

            Shaban hit a home run off Blowfish reliever Patrick Sullivan in the fourth inning to give Petersburg a 6-1 lead. It was a rare mistake from Sullivan, who gave up only one run and struck out six in eight innings of relief.

            Columbia closed the gap in the fifth after Glover singled home Rider for his team-leading ninth RBI of the summer to make it 6-2.

Notes: This was the only meeting of the season between the Blowfish and the Generals… Sullivan leads all Columbia pitchers with 14 strikeouts… The Blowfish have eleven errors on the season, which is the lowest in the Coastal Plains League… Columbia returns home after five straight road games to host the Fayetteville Swampdogs Friday night at 7:05 p.m. at Capital City Stadium.