Smith Stifles Generals in Wahoo Win

Jackson, Tenn. - Jackson's offense was held to just one run on Sunday night, as the Generals lost 5-1 to Pensacola. The loss evens the team's series against the Blue Wahoos at two games apiece, with Monday's finale becoming the rubber match.

Pensacola's Josh Smith (2-1, 2.70) was the story in this one, striking out eight without walking a batter in seven scoreless frames to earn his second win of the year. Jackson (9-12) mustered just one extra-base hit against the righty.

The Generals' best opportunity came in Smith's final inning of work. Jabari Blash (2-for-4, 2 2B, R) led off the seventh with a double and Gabriel Guerrero followed with a single to put men on the corners with nobody out. Smith was able to bear down and keep Jackson off the board, striking out Dan Paolini before inducing a double play from Leury Bonilla to end the inning.

Blash had a strong game from Jackson's cleanup spot, doubling twice in four at-bats. The outfielder has three doubles over his first two games with Seattle's Double-A club. He was a factor in Jackson's lone run of the contest. After leading off the ninth with a double against Ben Klimesh, he moved to third on a groundout. Dan Paolini's sac fly to center scored Blash from third to get Jackson on the board.

Dario Pizzano joined Blash with a pair of hits on the evening, extending his league-best hitting streak to 15 games. For the fourth contest in a row, Pizzano extended his streak in his first at-bat. In the first inning, he crushed one off the left-field wall but was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double.

Pizzano added a base hit in the fourth inning as well. In his last 15 games, he is hitting .435 (27-for-62) with two doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBIs. He leads the league with a .420 average and has hit in 17 of the 18 games he has played in. Sunday was his ninth multi-hit contest.

Pensacola (7-16) did much of their damage early, scoring runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-0 lead. Juan Silva tripled in the third off of Stephen Landazuri (0-1, 2.66) and came in to score on an RBI single by Beau Amaral, making it 1-0.

Kyle Waldrop (3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R) drove in runs in each of the next two innings as Pensacola extended its lead. Landazuri, Jackson's starter, got through five innings, giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out four batters. He suffered his first loss of the season.

The Blue Wahoos also got three hits from Marquez Smith in the game. Ryan Wright drove in an insurance run in the ninth with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0 in favor of the visitors. Pensacola's 13 hits were a season-high.

Jackson sends Jake Zokan (0-0, 5.40) to the mound in Monday morning's rubber match opposite Pensacola lefty Wandy Peralta (1-2, 3.05). Peralta will be just the second left-handed starter the Generals face in 2015. First pitch is at 11:05 am CT and you can listen to all the action on the TJ Network (AM 1390, FM 94.1 and 94.3) in Jackson starting with the Jackson Generals Pregame Show protected by the Tennessee Army National Guard at 10:50 am CT.

Monday is Jackson's first School Day of the season! Kids that come with their class get into the game for free! Tickets are still available by calling the Generals at (731) 988.5299, stopping by the park or going online to jacksongeneralsbaseball.com.