Barons Win 4-2 in Morning Matinee Game

In a Wednesday morning matinee, the Birmingham Barons defeated the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4-2 before 7,405 at Regions Field, evening their series at one game apiece. The game featured a compelling matchup between two top left-handed pitching prospects: Birmingham's Noah Schultz and Pensacola's Robby Snelling.

Schultz, the top prospect in the White Sox organization, delivered a career-best performance in innings pitched, pitching six innings, giving up five hits, two earned runs, and two walks with six strikeouts. He retired the final seven batters he faced, showcasing his growing dominance on the mound. Schultz (1-1, 3.42) gained his first win in Double-A in his career. Relief pitcher Andrew Dalquist was outstanding, pitching two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings, only giving up a hit with two strikeouts. On the season, Dalquist (2-0, 0.00) has pitched 14.1 innings, only giving up four hits, no earned runs, four walks, with 13 strikeouts. Closer Peyton Pallette closed out the ninth inning for his third save of the season, pitching 1.0 innings, giving up only one hit with a strikeout. Pallette has only given up two runs in his last eight innings, where he has collected a win and two saves in that stretch.

The Barons took an early lead in the second inning when Ryan Galanie and Caden Connor hit back-to-back doubles, giving the Barons an early 1-0 lead. The Blue Wahoos responded by tying the game in the third inning and briefly taking a 2-1 lead in the fourth, thanks to RBI contributions from Jake Thompson and Jard Serna.

However, Birmingham capitalized on a defensive miscue in the bottom of the fourth inning. A fly ball single to right field, kicked and finally picked up, let Mario Camilletti reach second base, setting the stage for Connor's RBI single and William Bergolla's go-ahead hit, putting the Barons ahead 3-2. The Barons added an insurance run in the seventh inning with doubles from Bergolla and Galanie.

In the Barons' win, Bergolla had three hits, an RBI, and a run scored. Connor had three hits, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Nishida had two walks and his 11th stolen base of the season. Galanie had two hits, an RBI, and a run scored.

With the win, Birmingham improved to 12-10 on the season, while Pensacola dropped to 16-7. The series continues Thursday evening at Regions Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:00 pm. Riley Gowens (2-0, 5.17) will take the mound for the Barons.