Catfish Fail To Sweep Sand Gnats

From the Columbus Catfish:

Savannah Salvages Series Finale with Catfish, 3-1
Catfish collect seven hits but leave nine on base

Columbus, GA ... The Catfish (32-28) were unable to complete a sweep of the Savannah Sand Gnats (24-36), losing 3-1 at Golden Park Thursday. RHP James McDonald was strong for seven innings as he limited the Sand Gnats to three runs, one earned, on just three hits and two walks. McDonald (1-4) struck out eight but suffered the loss. Despite the effort Columbus hitters left nine runners on base and went just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

In the fourth inning with two outs and runners on first and second LF Dee Brown hit a fly ball to deep right field. RF Sergio Pedroza was unable to make the play on the warning track and both runners raced home as Brown pulled into third base on the error. That ended a streak of 28 innings by Columbus starting pitchers without allowing a run.

DH Jason Mooneyham and LF Drew Locke both singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. With runners on the corners 1B David Sutherland lined out sharply to 1B Tim Pahuta, who tagged Locke for a double play. C Tony Harper then singled to score Mooneyham and bring the Catfish within one run.

Savannah extended the lead in the seventh inning on a soaring home run by 3B Leonard Davis. It was his third blast of the season and made the score 3-1.

Sand Gnats starter RHP Craig Stammen (4-7) gave up just one run in six innings to pick up the win. He was followed by RHP Bryan Lambert, LHP Coby Mavroulis and LHP Juan de los Santos, who each pitched a scoreless inning. Juan de los Santos earned his first save.

Next the Catfish will face the Rome Braves for a three-game series beginning with game one on Friday at 7:00pm. LHP Marlon Arias (6-3, 4.90) will match up against RHP Tyler Bullock (4-2, 5.31). For tickets or more information call (706) 571-8866 or visit www.ColumbusCatfish.com.