Jackson Wins Wild One Over Wahoos
Pensacola, Fla. - It took eleven innings and more than four hours, but Jackson held on for an 8-6 victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium Saturday night. The Wahoos came back from three deficits in the contest, but Jackson's two-run 11th inning closed the door to even the season series at four games apiece.
With the game tied at six going into the 11th, Jabari Henry and Dan Paolini each singled with one out to put men on first and second for catcher Marcus Littlewood. Littlewood blasted an RBI double over the head of Pensacola's Jesse Winker in right field to give the Generals a one-run lead. Later in the inning, Pensacola reliever Kevin Shackleford (0-2, 4.42) walked Tyler Smith with the bases loaded to make it 8-6.
Trevor Miller (3-0, 7.08) finished off the win for Jackson (18-23) in the bottom of the inning, though it wasn't without drama. Pensacola (19-24) loaded the bases on two hits and a walk, but Mller got Seth Mejias-Brean to ground out and end the game.
Jackson's 8-6 lead was the team's fourth of the game, but the Wahoos came back three times earlier in the contest. The Generals took the lead in the first inning against Pensacola's Robert Stephenson. Stephenson retired just one of the first six batters he faced, giving up a double to Smith and walking four. He issued a pair of walks with the bases loaded that put the Generals up 2-0.
After walking Jordy Lara to force in Jackson's second run, Stephenson took control. The Reds' top prospect struck out the final two men he faced in the first to close out a 43-pitch inning. The righty struck out two in each inning he started, finishing with a season-high 11 strikeouts in just 4.2 innings. He retired 10 in a row before walking Jabari Blash in the fifth, after which he was taken out of the game.
Pensacola got on the board against Jackson starter Scott DeCecco in the second when Zach Vincej scored on a double play to make it 2-1. One night after grounding into four double plays, Jackson turned two a season-high four times on Saturday.
The Wahoos took the lead with three runs on four hits against DeCecco in the fourth. Marquez Smith knocked in a run with a single to tie the game at two, and Pensacola added two more on a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly to go up 4-2.
Jackson trailed for just an inning before striking twice in the sixth to knot the game back up. Dario Pizzano walked to lead off, and D.J. Peterson followed with an RBI triple to right-center field. Peterson would come in two batters later on a sac fly from Dan Paolini to tie the game 4-4.
That was the first of many momentum shifts late in Saturday's ballgame. Jackson carried that into the seventh, as Jabari Blash capped off a three-hit inning with an RBI single to score Smith and put the Generals up 5-4. Blash reached base three times in the contest, extending his on-base streak to 11 games.
Jackson's one-run edge did not last long. After the seventh-inning stretch, Kyle Waldrop came through with a two-out RBI double off of Richard Vargas to tie the game back up at five.
The Generals jumped back in front with a run in the eighth inning, and Littlewood figured prominently into this score as well. The Jackson catcher stepped up to the plate after singles from Jordy Lara and Dan Paolini with none out. He laid down a successful sacrifice bunt and Carlos Gonzalez's throw to first was well off the mark, so Jabari Henry-who entered as a pinch runner for Lara earlier in the inning-was able to score from second to give the Generals a 6-5 edge.
Matt Anderson entered with two outs in the eighth for Jackson to try and convert a four-out save. After getting out of the eighth, Anderson walked Beau Amaral to begin the ninth. Amaral was sacrificed to second before Anderson struck out Waldrop to bring the Generals an out away from victory. Marquez Smith managed to extend the game by bouncing an RBI single to center that scored Amaral to make it 6-6. The game went without another score until Jackson plated the go-ahead runs in the 11th.
Jackson improved to 3-1 in extra-inning games with the victory on Saturday. The game time of 4:21 was the second longest of the year for the Generals, who played 4:28 of baseball in a 12-inning loss to Mississippi on April 17.
The Generals will attempt to even the five-game set in Pensacola on Sunday in a late afternoon affair. Southpaw Jake Zokan (1-2, 4.38) is set to start for Jackson against righty Daniel Wright (2-4, 6.10) for the Blue Wahoos. First pitch is slated for 4:05 pm CT and you can catch all the action on the TJ Network (AM 1390, FM 94.1 and 94.3) starting with the Jackson Generals Pregame Show protected by the Tennessee Army National Guard at 3:50 pm CT.
After this 11-game, 10-day road trip, the Generals return home on Tuesday, May 26 for five games with the Montgomery Biscuits. That series is headlined by a Two-For-Tuesday (May 26), State Farm Agent Wes Harris Dollar Night (May 28) and Night of Heart with Fireworks (May 30) presented by the West Tennessee Heart & Vascular Center! Tickets for all five games are still available by calling (731) 988.5299, stopping by the park or going online to jacksongeneralsbaseball.com.