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More Blue Wahoos Walk-Off Dramatics As Hostetler’s Game Winning Hit Decides In Tenth
May 10, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
Cody Morrisette gave Pensacola a big hit it lacked in the early innings to tie the game.
And then Bennett Hostetler followed on good fortune in extra innings to get a bigger one with a two-strike, liner hit to score Joe Mack for a 5-4 comeback victory against the Birmingham Barons on Mullet Thursday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Before a crowd of 4,116, it was this team’s fourth walk-off win in 18 home games this season
Talking on their alternate identity as the Pensacola Mullets, they rallied from a 3-1 deficit when the left-handed hitting Morissette, who played a big role in Wednesday’s matinee game win, went opposite field with an eighth-inning fastball he blasted over the left-field wall for a two-run, game-tying homer.
They again tied the game in the ninth on an errant pickoff throw that led to Jakob Marsee scoring from third base.
In the 10th, a wild pitch sent automatic runner Joe Mack from second to third. On a two-strike slider, Hostetler made perfect contact with a gap-liner to win the game.
“I was just trying to do whatever I could to get Joe to third, and once he got to third, just trying to put the ball in play,” Hostetler said.
It pushed the Blue Wahoos (17-13) to a 7-2 record in one-run games and gave them a lead in the week-long series against the Barons (20-9), who have the best record in the Southern League.
Marsee gave Pensacola a first-inning lead when scoring on Mack’s RBI single. But the Blue Wahoos stranded four runners in the first three innings, along with hitting in a double-play in the second inning against Jake Eder, who pitched for the Blue Wahoos in 2021.
Eder was part of the dynamic duo with former Miami Marlins first round pick Max Meyer that season. Both wound up with elbow issues. Eder’s injury occurred later that 2021 season and led to him missing all of 2022, then being traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Jake Burger last summer.
Wednesday night in his return to Blue Wahoos Stadium, Eder survived a rocky five innings, allowing six hits, but just one run and struck out six.
Pensacola starter Valente Bellozo worked six solid innings. His only mistake was yielding a two-run homer to the Barons’ Wilfred Veras in the sixth inning. The Barons got another run in the seventh for a 3-1 lead.
In the ninth inning, Barons reliever Gil Luna was trying to protect a 4-3 lead when he threw an errant two-out pickoff attempt at first base that allowed Marsee to easily score the tying run from third. Marsee had reached on a walk, advanced on a wild pitch and moved to third on a two-out single by Zach Zubia.
Blue Wahoos reliever Lincoln Henzman was sensational in the 10th against his former team, stranding the automatic runner by recording three consecutive outs with a strikeout and two soft ground outs.
The Blue Wahoos will try take a two-game lead in the series with the fourth game of the series on Friday. Pregame activities and ceremonial first pitches will begin at 5:40 p.m. with the official first pitch and game start at 6:05 p.m.
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