The Pensacola Blue Wahoos were handed a bitter walk-off loss in their series opener against the Montgomery Biscuits on Wednesday night, falling 6-5 on a game-ending wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth.

Griffin Conine’s go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth for Pensacola was overshadowed by a game-tying home run from Montgomery’s Greg Jones in the ninth, setting the stage for the walk-off wild pitch that scored Osleivis Basabe with the winning run.

Pensacola starter Zach King was ambushed for three hits and a pair of runs in the first, but settled down to get through 4.1 innings without any further damage. An RBI single from Demetrius Sims in the third and a sacrifice fly from Troy Johnston in the fourth against Biscuits stasrter Evan McKendry tied things up 2-2.

In the sixth, Conine went deep to right-center field for a go-ahead homer to put the Blue Wahoos ahead 5-2. It was the team-leading 17th home run for Conine, and his third in as many games.

Montgomery scored an unearned run against Justin Evans in the bottom of the sixth, but Josh Simpson (L, 5-2) retired the Biscuits in order in the seventh and eighth. After a 1-2-3 top of the ninth for Biscuits reliever Graeme Stinson (W, 1-0), Simpson came back out for a third inning of work and walked Brett Wisely before serving up the game-tying homer to Greg Jones. After a walk and a single put runners at the corners with one out, Dylan Bice entered and threw a pitch in the dirt to bring home Basabe with the winning run.

The Blue Wahoos continue their series in Montgomery on Thursday with a doubleheader to make up Tuesday’s rainout.

by Erik Bremer, Pensacola Blue Wahoos