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Jackson drops second-half opener after big fifth inning

Ji-Man Choi and Ramon Morla homer in Generals loss
June 19, 2013

JACKSON, TENN (June 19, 2013) - A six-run fifth inning, which included back-to-back home runs was not enough for the Jackson Generals (0-1, 29-38), falling 8-6 to the Mobile BayBears (1-0, 40-30). The balanced offensive attack from Mobile, scoring in five different innings secured the win for the BayBears. Jackson had ten 10 on the night, seven of them coming in the big fifth inning.

Jackson starter Roenis Elias (ND, 4-6, 3.08) did not have his best stuff but worked his way through five frames Wednesday. In what is becoming a theme in Elias' starts, the lefthander struggled early in the game. Keon Broxton knocked two runs in with a single in the first frame, and Nick Ahmed, who fell a triple shy of the cycle, added a home run in the fourth. Mobile added another tally in the top of the fifth and led 5-0. The Jackson offense had not put together many answers in the first four frames, but busted the game open in their half of the fifth.

After Gabriel Noriega (1-4, K) singled, Denny Almonte (1-4, SB, K, BB) hit into a double play and it looked to be another tough inning against Bradin Hagens. But Jackson strung together six straight hits, capped by back-to-back jacks from Ramon Morla (1-3, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K), who made his Double-A debut Wednesday, and Ji-Man Choi (2-4, HR, RBI). Hagens (ND, 7-3, 3.07) smoothed through four innings, but allowed five runs on eight hits. He gave up one of the two home runs, while striking out four and walking three. He never made it out of the fifth inning, finishing at 4.2 innings.

The bullpen would let the lead slip through the cracks though. Stephen Shackleford (0-0, 2.45) breezed through the sixth and seventh innings, striking out two, as he faced only six hitters in the two innings. Stephen Kohlscheen (L, 2-3, 3.06) tried to mirror that performance, but found trouble, giving up two walks to start the inning. Ahmed came through again for Mobile with a two-RBI double, tying things up. The BayBears snagged another run in the eighth, a three-run frame, and took the lead, 7-6.

Mobile grabbed an insurance run in the ninth and got the victory, 8-6. Derek Eitel (W, 3-1, 4.59) threw a perfect seventh and got the win. Kevin Munson (13 saves, 3.50) struck out a batter in the ninth and got the save.

Jackson was 3-for-10 with runners and scoring position and left six runners on base. The Generals swiped four more stolen bases, putting their season total at 86, second-best in the Southern League.

The second game of the series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (CT). Taijuan Walker (3-7, 2.56) will look grab the win for the Generals at home. He will go up against Bo Schultz (1-0, 0.00) for the BayBears. The game can be heard on 96.5 ESPN Radio, TuneIn Radio App. and jacksongeneralsbaseball.com.

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