Barons Walk Off on Generals

Birmingham, Ala. - After scoring runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the game, Birmingham walked off on an Eddy Alvarez single to down the Generals 5-4 at Regions Field Wednesday afternoon. Jackson suffered its first walk-off defeat in the loss. The last six games between the Generals and Barons teams have been decided by a single run.

Jackson (19-12) took a 4-2 lead into the seventh before the Barons came back. After the stretch, Joey DeMichele smacked a one-out triple to right-center before scoring on a groundout to cut Jackson's lead to one.

In the eighth, Birmingham (14-19) put two on with two out against Dan Altavilla (0-1, 4.73). The righty couldn't escape danger, as Trey Michalczewski singled past a diving D.J. Peterson to bring home the tying run.

The Barons completed the comeback in the ninth. DeMichele led off with a double just out of the reach of Leon Landry in left field. He moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt before Altavilla struck out Keenyn Walker. Eddy Alvarez followed by lining one into left field, bringing home DeMichele to give Birmingham a dramatic 5-4 victory.

Birmingham scored the first two runs of the game off of Andrew Kittredge, who went 3.1 innings in a spot-start for the Generals. Nicky Delmonico continued to terrorize Jackson pitching, driving in a run with a double in the first inning. Seven of Delmonico's league-best 12 doubles have come against the Generals. In the third, Eudy Pina drove in a run with a single to put the Barons up 2-0.

Jackson scored four times in the fourth to take the lead. Carson Fulmer walked each of the first three batters he faced before Benji Gonzalez tied the game with a two-run single to left. Two batters later, Zach Shank drove in a run with a single to put the Generals on top. Tim Lopes made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly.

Fulmer, the eighth overall pick in last year's draft out of Vanderbilt, walked a season-high eight batters in four innings. He allowed four runs on four hits while striking out three.

Kyle Hunter kept the Generals in it with four solid innings of relief, but the offense couldn't add to the lead. In the eighth, Jackson loaded the bases with one out on three-straight singles. Birmingham turned to Matt Lollis (3-0, 2.84), who induced an inning-ending double play from Lopes to stop Jackson's rally in its track.

Shank and Lopes pushed their on-base streaks to 22 and 23 games respectively, but Tyler O'Neill saw his hitting streak end at 14 and his on-base stream snapped at 28 after an 0-for-5 day at the plate. His on-base streak was the longest for a Generals' player since Pat Kivlehan reached in 32-straight games in 2014.

Jackson will try to even the series in game four on Thursday night. Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 5.29) takes the hill for the Generals against Birmingham southpaw David Holmberg (1-3, 4.33). First pitch from Regions Field is slated for 7:05 pm CT, and you can catch all the action starting at 6:50 pm CT on the TJ Network (AM 1390, FM 94.1) in Jackson with the Generals Pregame Show online via the TuneIn Radio App.

The Generals return home for a five-game set against Chattanooga Thursday, May 19. The opener is a State Farm Agent Wes Harris Dollar Night, with general admission tickets, hot dogs, popcorn, soda and select beer selling for just $1! There will be a pregame autograph session sponsored by the Jackson Sun May 20, which is also an Old Hickory Mall Chick-Fil-A Friday! Saturday, May 21 is CMA Night sponsored by MobileNation! The first 500 fans will go home with a Trucker Hat courtesy of State Farm Agent Alan Brown, and one lucky person will win a pair of four-day passes to the CMA Music Festival in Nashville! The night wraps up with postgame fireworks! Family FunDay Sunday follows, with children 12 and under getting free admission, ice cream, fun zone access and the chance to play catch on the field pregame!

For tickets and information, call the team at (731) 988.5299, go online to jacksongeneralsbaseball.com or stop by The Ballpark!