Kopech, O'Dowd Guide Barons To 3-1 Victory

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Michael Kopech walked two and allowed a run in the first inning, but then locked in and threw seven strong innings to lead the Barons to a 3-1 win over the Tennessee Smokies on Friday Night.
8,358 fans at Regions Field on Star Wars night saw Kopech retire 15 in a row from the RBI groundout by Yasiel Balaguert in the first inning until a sixth inning single by Andrew Ely. 

Kopech took a no-hitter into the sixth inning for his second consecutive start and struck out eight, while giving up only three hits and one run. The right hander struck out Kevin Cornelius on a 99 mph fastball for the last out of the seventh, ending his outing at 104 pitches.
While Kopech was keeping the Barons in the game, the offense struck with single runs in the fourth, seventh and eighth. In the fourth, Jake Peter and Nick Basto led off the inning with base hits and Peter came around to tie the game at one on a wild pitch.
With the game tied at one in the seventh, Hunter Jones and Cameron Seitzer led off the inning with a hit by pitch and walk respectively. Then following a sacrifice bunt by new Baron Ronald Bueno, Chris O'Dowd sent a fly ball over the drawn in infield for a sacrifice fly to give the Barons a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish. 
Mason Robbins would go on to add an eighth inning RBI single for an insurance run to support the bullpen after Kopech had exited. Connor Walsh threw a scoreless eighth, while Brandon Brennan tossed a clean ninth for his team leading fourth save of the season. 
Kopech moved to 3-2 on the season, while lowering his ERA to 2.76 and tying teammate Jordan Guerrero for the Southern League lead in strikeouts with 59. Smokies' starter Trevor Clifton took the loss to drop to 3-2 after surrendering two runs in 6.2 innings pitched.   
The Barons will be back in action on Saturday night for game three against the Smokies, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. Left-hander Jordan Guerrero will toe the slab for the Barons and Preston Morrison will get the ball for the Smokies. Curt Bloom will bring you all the action starting with the Coca-Cola pregame show starting at 6:20 p.m. on WERC 105.5 FM and the iHeart Radio app. 
For ticket information, game schedule, promotions calendar or for additional information about Regions Field, call (205) 988-3200, or visit www.barons.com, www.facebook.com/birminghambarons or on Twitter: @bhambarons.