Catfish open road trip with 12-7 win

The Columbus Catfish' final trip ... ever ... to Asheville began on a high note Saturday night.

Next season, there will be no Columbus Catfish. The team is moving to Bowling Green, Kentucky, following the conclusion of this season.

The trip got off to a big start, with the Catfish taking a 12-7 decision over the Asheville Tourists.

After Asheville took an early lead, the Catfish fought back, turning the game around:

With a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning, Sheng-An Kuo - making his first relief appearance of the season - was tagged for six runs in the fourth inning. Ten Catfish came to the plate in the inning, keyed by three Kuo (9-7) walks and a grand slam off the bat of Maiko Loyola, which ended with the Catfish in control with a 7-4 lead they wouldn't relinquish. ...

After Columbus took the lead in the fourth, the Tourists cut the lead to two runs on Lapin's RBI double to score Schaeffer, part of Lapin's 3 RBI night, to make it a 7-5 game. That would be as close as Asheville would get as Columbus scored three more in the fifth to stretch the lead to five runs with the key hit coming on Greg Sexton's single to drive in two.

The 4-game series continues Sunday afternoon.