Wahoos Get Walk-off 9-8 Win Over Biloxi

June 4, 2022

Troy Johnston stayed red-hot at the plate, hitting a game-tying homer in the seventh and a walk-off single in the ninth to lead the Pensacola Blue Wahoos to a 9-8 victory over the Biloxi Shuckers on Friday night.

Johnston went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in, raising his average to .545 (24-for-44) through the first ten games of Pensacola’s homestand. He now has multi-hit efforts in 8 of his last 9 games.

Biloxi jumped ahead early with four first-inning runs against Bryan Mitchell, who was making his Blue Wahoos debut. A two-run double from Jakson Reetz and RBI single from Thomas Dillard highlighted the frame, which came to an abrupt end when center fielder Victor Victor Mesa threw out Tristen Lutz at the plate for the third out of the inning.

Pensacola chipped away at the deficit in the third against Victor Castañeda, as Griffin Conine hit an RBI single and Luis Aviles Jr. hit an RBI double. Mitchell also settled down, pitching hitless baseball through his final three innings to keep the game within reach.

Aviles doubled again in the fifth to shrink Biloxi’s lead to 4-3, but the Shuckers answered back in the sixth with a Cam Devanney homer against Josh Simpson. Johnston’s game-tying two-run homer in the seventh was just the start of a five-run frame that saw the Blue Wahoos take an 8-5 lead, as Conine doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly and J.D. Osborne launched a two-run homer of his own.

Dylan Bice worked a pair of scoreless innings in relief, but the Shuckers ambushed Eli Villalobos (W, 2-1) in the ninth. After a single and a hit batsman, Villalobos allowed a three-run homer to Lutz to tie the game 8-8.

Against J.T. Hintzen (L, 3-3) in the ninth, the Blue Wahoos coaxed back-to-back walks before Johnston lined a single into right center to score the winning run. It was Pensacola’s third walk-off of the season, and their second of the series after a 10-inning win on Tuesday.

With the win, Pensacola’s lead in the South Division has grown to 1.5 games over the Shuckers with 20 to play in the first half.

The Blue Wahoos continue their homestand against the Biloxi Shuckers on Saturday.

written by Erik Bremer, Pensacola Blue Wahoos

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