Shuckers Use All-Around Effort to Take Series Finale Against M-Braves
BILOXI, MS – On a day where the United States Air Force Thunderbirds shot through the sky in the late innings, the Biloxi Shuckers stole the show with 15 hits and eight stolen bases while the pitching staff retried 15 straight to cap off a 10-5 win over the Mississippi
BILOXI, MS – On a day where the United States Air Force Thunderbirds shot through the sky in the late innings, the Biloxi Shuckers stole the show with 15 hits and eight stolen bases while the pitching staff retried 15 straight to cap off a 10-5 win over the Mississippi Braves at MGM Park on Sunday afternoon.
With the win and a Montgomery Biscuits loss in the completion of their suspended game, the Shuckers are guaranteed to have a share of first place in the South Division when the two meet for a series starting on Tuesday.
The game started as an offensive explosion on both sides. Drew Lugbaurer smashed his 50th Double-A home run in the first, a three-run blast, to give the M-Braves a 3-0 lead. The Shuckers responded in the bottom half of the inning with a two-RBI single from Freddy Zamora.
In the second, the offensive output continued on both sides. Andrew Moritz tripled to the right-field corner to bring home Justin Dean and give the M-Braves a 4-2 lead. Shuckers starter Tobias Myers then exited due to injury, but Jeferson Quero threw out his third potential base-stealer of the year after a walk to keep the deficit at two. No less than five minutes later. He led off the bottom of the inning with his second home run of the year.
The Shuckers offense continued in the fourth. After a leadoff triple from Noah Campbell, Zamora drove in his third run of the day with a sacrifice fly to center. Two batters later, Quero drove home Carlos Rodriguez to tie the game at four. The Shuckers then took the lead on a wild pitch and another sacrifice fly, this time from Jackson Chourio.
A solo home run from Cade Bunnell to lead off the fifth made it 7-5, but the pitching staff cruised the rest of the way. Over the final five innings, the staff struck out 11 of the final 15 batters and retired all 15 in a row.
The Shuckers added on two more in the fifth when Isaac Collins doubled home Felix Valerio, who reached on an error. Tyler Black then drove in Collins on a check-swing single to left to make it 9-5. They added their final run in the seventh when Chourio stole second and Collins had a delayed steal of home. The stolen bases were the Shuckers seventh and eighth of the day, which set a new single-game franchise record. Collins’ four stolen bases tied the single-game franchise record for a player.
Nick Bennett (2-1) earned the while Alan Rangel (0-2) took the loss. After an off day on Monday, the Shuckers will open up a series with the Montgomery Biscuits on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Riverwalk Stadium.
Individual tickets, group outings, Shuck Nation memberships and Flex Plans for the 2023 Biloxi Shuckers season are available now by calling (228) 233-3465 or visiting biloxishuckers.com.
ABOUT THE BILOXI SHUCKERS:
The Biloxi Shuckers are the Double-A Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Shuckers are members of the Southern League and play at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi. For more information please visit biloxishuckers.com and follow us on Twitter @biloxishuckers and at facebook.com/biloxishuckers.
ABOUT SHUCKERS BASEBALL, LLC:
Shuckers Baseball, LLC is a MS entity owned and operated by John Tracy. Shuckers Baseball operates the Biloxi Shuckers baseball franchise, including operating MGM Park for Biloxi Shuckers minor league baseball games and other entertainment and recreational events.