Smokies Shut Out Wahoos

September 1, 2012

Tennessee hurlers Chris Rusin, Nick Struck and Tony Zych combined to yield just two hits and two walks to shut down the Blue Wahoos bats, while left fielder Rubi Silva drove home four runs to lead the Smokies to a 5-0 shutout win over Pensacola in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 on Friday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.

With the win, Tennessee improve to 35-32 in the second half, while the loss drops the Fish to a 33-33 mark in that same time frame. The defeat along with a Montgomery victory over the Huntsville Stars Friday also eliminates Pensacola from playoff contention in the Southern League’s South Division. The capacity crowd was the 38th sellout of the year hosted by the club in their inaugural season of Southern League play.

The duo of Rusin (3.0 IP, 1 SO) and Struck (5.2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 SO) joined forces to allow a lone hit in the first 8.2 frames, with Rusin firing three perfect frames. Struck earned his 14thh win of the year and fell one out short of going the rest of the way.

Each of the first 12 Blue Wahoos batters were retired, before yielding a base knock in the fifth. 1B Beau Mills laced a triple to right-center, but would be erased on a fielder’s choice later in the inning, marking the only time Pensacola had a runner at third.

Zych (0.1 IP, 1 H) came on with two outs in the ninth and preserved the shutout for Tennessee. Pensacola starter Daniel Corcino (5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) suffered the loss despite allowing just the lone earned run on five hits in his five frames.

Tennessee tallied their first score in the opening frame, with an inning-ending double play holding the Smokies to no more. CF Matt Szczur led off the game with a single and advanced to third on a double before being sent in when RF Jae-Hoon Ha lifted a sacrifice fly to right.

The Smokies subsequently scored three in the sixth, with their fourth longball of the series. 1B Justin Bour began the inning with a base knock while 3B Junior Lake also reached on a base hit, prior to Silva’s shot to left, which extended Tennessee’s margin to four. Silva brought home his fourth RBI of the evening two frames later with an RBI single up the middle to cap the scoring.

Szczur (2-5, 1 R) and Silva (2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI) each recorded multi-hit games to lead the Smokies, while no Blue Wahoos batters collected two or more base hits. Fish SS Billy Hamilton was kept off the basepaths, which keeps his single-season steals record staying put at 154.

The two teams are scheduled to square off Saturday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the bayrfront stadium. Tennessee is slated to send LHP Eric Jokisch (7-2, 2.97) to the hill, while Pensacola is expected to counter with LHP Tony Cingrani (5-3, 2.00).

By Andrew Green

Pictured: Daniel Corcino allowed only a lone earned run Friday night for the Wahoos. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports