The bats of the Lexington County Blowfish remained hot Thursday as the stands remained vacant of fans for the 2nd straight night.

Lexington County defeated the Lake Murray Purple Martins 14-7 to improve to 2-0 on the season. In matching its run total from a night earlier, the Blowfish increased its hit total by 1 with 16.

A pair of newcomers led the Blowfish offense. Brennan Milone had 4 RBIs, all coming on 2 home runs. He had a 3-run homer in the top 1st to help erase an early 2-0 deficit, and had a solo shot in the bottom 4th.

Matt McDermott had a team-high 4 hits and matched University of South Carolina sophomore West Clarke with 3 RBI each. Josh Senter of River Bluff also homered and finished with 2 RBI.

Layton Todd and Aaron White of River Bluff each threw 3 innings and combined for 11 strikeouts. 

Prior to the game, the Blowfish announced it would once again appeal to the Governor’s Office to not allow fans to attend games. On Wednesday, Gov. Henry McMaster said the team would violation of his emergency orders regarding the pandemic if fans were in attendance.

The team is considered a “spectator sport” which are among the activities banned in his orders.

He also distinguished the Blowfish as a “business venture” as compared to other amateur leagues like the S.C. American Baseball Summer League which are allowed to have fans.