SEVIERVILLE, TENNESSEE - The Tennessee Smokies fell in the series opener with the Jackson Generals 8-7 Thursday night. Zach hedges got the ball for Tennessee as he went 5.1 innings giving up five hits and two earned runs. Stephen Perakslis, Jake Stinnett, Craig Brooks, and James Norwood would come in out of
SEVIERVILLE, TENNESSEE - The Tennessee Smokies fell in the series opener with the Jackson Generals 8-7 Thursday night.
Zach hedges got the ball for Tennessee as he went 5.1 innings giving up five hits and two earned runs. Stephen Perakslis, Jake Stinnett, Craig Brooks, and James Norwood would come in out of the bullpen to close out the game for the Smokies.
Jackson got the scoring started when Daniel Lockhart would steal home when Ian Rice attempted to throw out Kelly Dugan stealing second base, which would put the Generals up 1-0 after the top of the first. Later in the inning, Andrew Ely would hit a solo shot to tie the game at one a piece. The Smokies bats would heat up when Charcer Burks hit a two RBI single to score Trey Martin and Carlos Penalver in the bottom of the second putting the Smokies up 3-1. One inning later, Ian Rice would hit an RBI single to score David Bote. Two batters later, Carlos Penalver would hit an RBI single to score Ian Rice and extend the lead to 5-1.
The Generals would post one more run in the top of the sixth when Kelly Dugan hit a sacrifice fly to score Daniel Lockhart to make the score 5-2. In the top of the ninth Vladimir Frias would hit an RBI single to score Jamie Westbrook. Daniel Lockhart would hit a single RBI to score Vladimir Frias to bring the game to 5-4. Marty Herum would single to score Galli Cribbs Jr. and tie the game at five all. Craig Brooks would throw a wild pitch to give the Generals the 6-5 lead.
The Smokies would tie the ball game when David Bote was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie the game at six all and bring the game to extra innings. In the top of the eleventh, Kevin Cron would hit a sacrifice fly to score Victor Reyes and put the Generals ahead 7-6. One batter later Kelly Dugan would hit an RBI single to score Marty Herum extend the Generals lead to 8-6. David Bote would reach on a fielding error by Galli Cribbs to score Charcer Burks to end the scoring and give the Generals the 8-7 win.
Tyler Badamo would get the start for Generals. Badamo pitched six innings giving up ten hits while giving up five runs. Gabe Speier, Mason McCullough, JR Bradley would come in for the final five innings of relief for the Generals.
The Smokies are back in action tomorrow night for game two of the series with the Jackson generals. Matt Swarmer is expected to be on the bump for Tennessee with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m.
ABOUT THE TENNESSEE SMOKIES
The Tennessee Smokies are the Double-A affiliate of the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. Members of the ten-team Southern League, Smokies baseball has been entertaining families and fans of America's national pastime in the East Tennessee region for over 100 years. To learn more about the Tennessee Smokies, visit www.smokiesbaseball.com
