BRADENTON, Fla. – Justin Meis was so flustered after he finished the fourth inning that he went to the wrong dugout. Meis could only laugh, knowing it was an understandable mistake.

The 26-year-old right-hander, who spent last season with Double-A Altoona, pitched for Team Colombia in a 7-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a World Baseball Classic exhibition game Tuesday at LECOM Park.

“That was cool, just to get out there and compete,” said Meis, a Bethel Park graduate who was a 10th-round pick out of Eastern Michigan in 2021. “I was scheduled to pitch and they had a couple open innings. Can’t complain about getting some reps. I haven’t thrown live in about a week. The plan was to get me into a game. It just happened to be for Colombia today. Whatever works.”

Jake Mangum went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Konnor Griffin had an RBI double, Billy Cook went 2 for 2 with an RBI and Duce Gourson added two RBIs as the Pirates had 11 hits.

Jose Urquidy tossed three scoreless innings, striking out three while allowing two hits and one walk in his second start of the spring. Justin Lawrence recorded a pair of strikeouts in a 12-pitch fourth inning.

Meis was one of a half-dozen Pirates players called up from minor league camp who were loaned to Team Colombia for depth. In his third outing of spring training – he also faced the Baltimore Orioles on Feb. 21 in Sarasota and the Boston Red Sox on Feb. 24 in Fort Myers – Meis allowed one hit, one walk and hit a batter in 1 2/3 innings.

Meis lobbied to wear Colombia’s blue jersey and gold cap but wore a black Pirates jersey with road gray pants while facing the Pirates, who wore home white pants.

“I did want to wear their uniform,” Meis said. “I thought it would be cool. They said they didn’t have an extra. I tried to get a hat but they said no. It is what it is but that was a cool experience.”

Meis replaced Guillo Zuniga after Cook’s RBI single to put runners on first and third and give the Pirates a 4-0 lead. Mangum singled to left to score Jhostynxon Garcia, but Meis got Griffin to ground out to short and Spencer Horwitz to fly out to center.

“I was a little flustered after that inning, not knowing which dugout to go back to,” Meis said. “They were giving me crap. I walked over there but realized I still had the PitchCom for Colombia. So, I set my glove down in the Pirates’ dugout, then walked over to the Colombia dugout to give them the PitchCom.”

Meis hit Joey Bart with a pitch, then got Rafael Flores Jr. to fly out to right before walking Esmerlyn Valdez. Meis got Enmanuel Valdez to pop up to short, then finished the outing by getting Dominic Fletcher looking at a called third strike on an 87.8-mph slider in the upper corner.

Afterward, Meis spent a couple innings in Colombia’s dugout. After going 4-4 with a 2.09 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and seven saves with 67 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings over 42 appearances for the Curve, Meis knows this is an important season in his career. It’s one that should start in the minors but he’s hoping to find his way to the majors.

“Whatever can get me exposure,” Meis said. “Today was fun, man. Just hanging out in their bullpen, it was definitely different.”

Note: The Pirates are off Wednesday. Mitch Keller is scheduled to start when they host the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday at LECOM Park. The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh.