Rasmussen Moonshot Leads Fireflies to 13-6 Win

Fireflies score most runs in a game since June 7

By Columbia Fireflies

September 1, 2026

Top Storylines - Connor Rasmussen hit his fourth homer of the season, a three-run blast that gave the Fireflies a 10-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning. - Tonight’s win was the Fireflies 64th win of the season. The franchise record is 68 wins, which was most recently

Top Storylines

Connor Rasmussen hit his fourth homer of the season, a three-run blast that gave the Fireflies a 10-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning.

Tonight’s win was the Fireflies 64th win of the season. The franchise record is 68 wins, which was most recently hit during the 2024 season.

Daniel Lopez closed out the night 2-5 at the plate with a triple, two runs scored and two RBI Tuesday.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Connor Rasmussen smacked a three-run homer as the Fireflies beat the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 13-6 Tuesday night at Pelicans Ballpark. It was the first time Columbia scored at least 13 runs since June 7, when they beat the Fayetteville Woodpeckers 16-2.

Play-by-Play

Columbia took a bite out of the score column in the third inning. Jhonayker Ugarte started the frame with a base knock. After that, Daniel Lopez drilled a triple to the right field corner to plate Ugarte and tie the game. Lopez came around on a Henry Ramos single to the wall in left. After that, Ramos stole second and scored after a Camden Johnson single to push Columbia to a 3-1 advantage prior to the end of the inning.

The next frame, the Fireflies sent nine hitters to the plate and drew five walks and a hit to add on an additional three runs on Geovany Vasquez to increase their lead to 6-1. After a walk and a single set the table in the fifth, Daniel Lopez grounded out to short to plate Connor Rasmussen to make it 7-3 Columbia. After that, Rasmussen drove in the runs. Columbia’s second baseman tattooed a three-run blast over the scoreboard in right field to push Columbia’s lead to 10-3.

The Fireflies wrapped up the scoring in the eighth. Jhosmmel Zue and Connor Rasmussen scored on a Jhonayker Ugarte base knock to push Columbia’s lead to 13-5 before it was all said and done.

Shane Van Dam got the start and allowed three runs over four innings before passing the ball to the bullpen. Both Michael Braswell (W, 2-1) and Dalton Hill allowed one run over a pair of innings and Adrian Belen finished things out with one run in the ninth inning to close it out for Columbia.

On the other side, Jubrayker Salaya (L, 0-2) allowed three runs over three innings and each Pelicans reliever allowed multiple runs until Sam Mettert got the final four outs in order for Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach got some runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Caden Sorrell singled to put a runner on for Eli Lovich. Myrtle Beach’s right fielder pulled a triple to the right field corner to plate Sorrell and later came around on an Alexis Hernandez knock to cut Columbia’s advantage to 6-3.

The Pelican broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the first inning. Corey Nunez broke things open with a double down the right field line. He stole third with Jhoander Irigoyen at the plate and scored on a Shane Van Dam wild pitch to make it a 1-0 game.

On-Deck

The Fireflies continue their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tomorrow night at Pelicans Ballpark at 7:05 pm. RHP Michael Lombardi (2-4, 3.77 ERA) takes the ball for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with LHP Hayden Frank (3-9, 5.15 ERA).

Thank you for keeping up with the Fireflies for the 2026 season! Stay tuned for updates on off-season events at Segra Park and updates on the upcoming 2027 season. More details are available at FirefliesTickets.com.