Brown Hurls Six Scoreless in Shuckers Victory

JACKSONVILLE, FL - After a two and a half hour delay, the Biloxi Shuckers (53-40, 12-11) jumped out to a quick lead over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (38-54, 11-13) in a 6-4 win on Sunday evening at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. RHP Zack Brown (W, 9-0) spun six scoreless innings and recorded his first professional hit in the triumph.
Corey Ray singled to left on the second pitch of the game and promptly swiped second base. Jake Gatewood and Lucas Erceg each walked, loading the bases for Tyler Heineman, who drove in two with a single to right off RHP Robert Dugger (L, 2-3). Two batters later, Trent Grisham knocked a single to right, scoring Erceg to put the Shuckers in front 3-0 out of the gate.
Brown's lone jam of the night came in the second inning. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases, but Brown struck out the next three batters in order, leaving the bags full to keep the Jumbo Shrimp off the board. Including those three strikeouts, Brown retired 15 of the final 16 batters he faced, issuing just a leadoff walk to start the fourth inning. All told, the All-Star tossed six innings without allowing a run on one hit while walking five and striking out six. Brown's ERA now drops to 2.33 for the season, the best in the Southern League. 
In the top of the fourth, Brown helped his own cause, singling up the middle with two outs to drive in a run and extend the Shuckers advantage to 4-0. It was Brown's first professional hit and RBI. Biloxi tagged on two more in the fifth when Ray walked, then stole second and third base before scoring on a home run to right from Erceg, his tenth of the season, widening the Shuckers lead to 6-0.
Jacksonville cracked the board in the eighth, scoring on a wild pitch from RHP Josh Uhen and an opposite field blooper from Eric Jagielo. RHP Nate Griep finished off the eighth with a 6-4-3 double play and came back out to pitch the ninth. The Jumbo Shrimp loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, and Isan Díaz reached base as the tying run on a two RBI single. Griep finished off the game with a strikeout of John Norwood, securing the victory for Biloxi.
The rubber match of a five-game series is on Monday night at 6:05 PM CT. Biloxi is slated to send RHP Trey Supak (0-6, 5.22) to the mound against Jumbo Shrimp RHP Merandy Gonzalez (1-3, 4.93). The game can be heard locally on Cruisin' WGCM AM 1240/FM 100.9, TuneIn Radio or the MiLB First Pitch App. 
Single game tickets for the Biloxi Shuckers 2018 season can be purchased at the MGM Park box office or over the phone through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Playoff strips, half-season tickets, flex plans and group outings are also available and can be reserved by calling 228-233-3465 or visiting www.biloxishuckers.com.