Mobile Opens Series With 5-2 Win Over Pensacola

June 14, 2013

Nick Evans launched two home runs, including a tie-breaking shot in the ninth inning to lift the Mobile BayBears to a series-opening win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, 5-2, on Thursday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038, the 12th sellout of the season.

The BayBears, riding a string of late-inning victories, continued their come-from-behind prowess on Thursday. Entering the eighth trailing 2-1, Mobile posted the final four runs of the contest for the victory. In the eighth, Keon Broxton singled and Mike Freeman double to put runners at second and third with nobody out before Nick Ahmed drove home Broxton with a sac fly to tie the game. Wilkin De La Rosa come on to get the final two outs of the inning while stranding the go-ahead run at third.

In the ninth, the BayBears again put the first two runners on via a single and an error. Ahmed stepped to the dish having already smoked a solo homer in the fourth inning, and jolted his second homer of the game, a three-run shot on a 3-0 pitch to give Mobile its three-run lead.

Kevin Munson came on in the ninth to pick up his 11th save of the season by retiring the Wahoos in the ninth. With the win, Mobile held its half-game lead over Mississippi who also won on Thursday night.

The late rally spoiled what was a solid start from Tim Crabbe. The right-hander tossed a season-high 7.1 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out four. Crabbe had retired 20 of the last 21 and 10 straight entering the eighth inning before being pulled after the Freeman double.

Pensacola tallied single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 2-1 lead. In the fifth, Ray Chang blasted a solo shot, his second home run since returning from Triple-A. An inning later, Tucker Barnhart extended his hitting streak to eight games with a two-out single to score Ryan LaMarre.

The two teams continue the five-game series on Friday night with a 7:00 p.m. first pitch. Ryan Dennick (3-6, 3.18) gets the start for Pensacola against Mobile’s Bo Schultz (1-0, 0.00).

story by Kevin Burke

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