Mississippi Outlasts Pensacola, 2-1

May 25, 2017

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos loaded the bases in the seventh inning with one out. But the team’s best chance to pull off a come-from-behind victory over the Mississippi Braves fell short.

Mississippi reliever Evan Phillips entered the game and forced left fielder Tyler Goeddel to line out to the shortstop and second baseman Alex Blandino to ground out to third base. The Braves went on to win, 2-1, Wednesday at Trustmark Park.

Pensacola fell to 8-9 in one-run games this season and is 25-21 on the season in a tie for first place with the Biloxi Shuckers in the Southern League South Division. Mississippi evened its record at 23-23 and is in third place.

Pensacola scored in the top of the first inning when first baseman Eric Jagielo hit a two-out single to center field that drove in Goeddel to put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 1-0. The ballclub earned two of its four hits in that inning with the other hit by Blandino, who hit a sharp grounder that deflected off the shortstop’s glove into left field.

But Mississippi came right back in the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back home runs by center fielder Ronald Acuna and third baseman Travis Demeritte off Pensacola ace Tyler Mahle. It was Acuna’s third homer with Mississippi and Demeritte’s seventh.

Neither team would score the rest of the way.

Mahle picked up his second consecutive loss, falling to 5-2, with a 1.72 ERA. The 22-year-old right-hander pitched six innings and gave up two runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out five.

Domingo Tapia relieved Mahle and threw two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and striking out three.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Mississippi starter Mike Soroka improved to 5-3 with a 2.96 ERA. The first-round pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2015 pitched 5.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits, walked two and struck out a career-high 10.

The Braves bullpen pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowed one hit, four walks and struck out three Pensacola batters. Pensacola hitters struck out 13 times in Wednesday’s game.

Pensacola, which leads the Southern League with a 2.70 ERA, added another arm to its pitching staff Wednesday when the Cincinnati Reds promoted High-A Daytona Tortugas righty Robert Stock. Blue Wahoos catcher Garrett Boulware was returned to Daytona.

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