Generals Beat Pensacola 8-5

June 6, 2016

The top team in the Southern League Northern Division and Southern Division faced each other Sunday at The Ballpark at Jackson.

In the end, it was the Jackson Generals who defeated the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, 8-5, behind two homers by first baseman D.J. Peterson. After a nine game win streak, Jackson had lost to the Tennessee Smokies on Saturday.

Jackson won again and remains in first with a 37-19 record with its win, while Pensacola also stayed atop the South Division despite the loss with its 32-23 record to remain one game ahead of the Biloxi Shuckers.

Blue Wahoos second baseman Brandon Dixon kept his hot-hitting streak going with his third two homer game in the past six games and his third straight game with a homer.

Dixon has 11 homers on the season—eight in the past six games since May 29—helping him leap frog to second in the Southern League for the season.

The 24-year-old Dixon went 2-4 with two homers, two runs and three RBIs Sunday and is now 15-24 (.625) in his six-game hitting streak. He has eight home runs and 18 runs-batted in during his streak and 37 on the season. He now has a .617 slugging percentage, which is second in the Southern League. Dixon is batting .322 this year, which ranks fourth in the league.

Jackson Stephens took the mound for Pensacola and worked 4.1 innings, giving up six runs, three earned on seven hits and three walks. He dropped to 5-4 on the season with a 3.36 ERA.

Jackson’s starter Andrew Moore improved to 2-0 for the Generals with a 3.78 ERA. He pitched 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits and one walk, while striking out seven.

The Generals scored first when DH Leon Landry lined a two-out single to right field to score both left fielder Ian Miller and center fielder Guillermo Heredia to put the team up, 2-0, in the third inning over Pensacola.

Pensacola came back in the top of the fourth with Dixon smacking a solo homer to right field to pull the Blue Wahoos within, 2-1.

Miller singled to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out to drive in Jackson catcher Steve Baron, who had singled to center, for a 3-1 Generals’ lead.

Pensacola leadoff hitter Tony Renda, who was playing left, then hit a two-out double to drive in center fielder Jeff Gellalich, who tripled with two out, to pull the Blue Wahoos within, 3-2, in the top of the fifth inning. Pensacola right fielder Sebastian Elizalde then hit a two-out, game-tying single to center to drive in Renda and knot the score, 3-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, Jackson’s first baseman Peterson hit a three-run, line drive home run to centerfield that also brought home right fielder Tyler O’Neill and Landry to put the Generals up, 6-3. O’Neill earned the Southern League Player of the Month for May for hitting in 24 of 28 games and posted a .348 average in the month.

The Generals’ Peterson hit his second home run of the game—eighth on the year—in the bottom of the seventh to increase Jackson’s lead to 7-3. Jackson third baseman Brock Hebert singled to center to drive in second baseman Tim Lopes to extend Jackson’s lead to 8-3.

Dixon hit his third two-homer in six games in the top of the eighth when he rocketed the ball to left center, which also brought home Elizalde, and pulled Pensacola within, 8-5.

Jackson closer Dan Altavilla finished the ninth by striking out the side for his fifth save of the year.

Also leading the Blue Wahoos at the plate were Renda, who went 2-4, with a double, run scored and RBI and Elizalde, who also was 2-4, with a double, run scored and RBI. Renda has a seven-game hitting streak and 15 multi-hit games and is now hitting .310 this season. Elizalde has hit in five of the last six games and is batting .313 on the year.

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