Jake Hager's two home run night helped the Biloxi Shuckers (37-25) charge back for a second straight night to defeat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (25-35) 6-3 on Saturday night at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.The Jumbo Shrimp jumped out to an early lead in the second thanks to a solo
Jake Hager's two home run night helped the Biloxi Shuckers (37-25) charge back for a second straight night to defeat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (25-35) 6-3 on Saturday night at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
The Jumbo Shrimp jumped out to an early lead in the second thanks to a solo home run by Peter O'Brien, his fourth of the season. It was O'Brien's second in as many nights. Troy Stokes Jr. pulled Biloxi even with a solo home run in the top of the third, his eighth of the season, knotting the score at one apiece. Stokes finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, an RBI and a run scored.
RHP Cody Ponce (W, 3-4) tossed five quality innings, but the Jumbo Shrimp tagged him for a pair of runs in the fifth. Mason Davis singled with one out and went from first to third on a single the other way by Cade Gotta. The right fielder stole second and both runners scored on a single by Isan Díaz, giving Jacksonville a 3-1 lead.
Yet again, the Shuckers had a response in the sixth. Stokes started the frame with a single but was cancelled out on a fielders' choice by Keston Hiura. Two batters later, Lucas Erceg tripled to the left field wall, plating Hiura to bring Biloxi within a run at 3-2. Hager wasted no time giving Biloxi the lead, launching a 1-1 pitch from RHP Nick Neidert (L, 6-4) over the left field fence to put the Shuckers in front 4-3 on his eighth home run of the season.
RHP Luis Ortiz (S, 2) entered in the bottom of the sixth and handcuffed the Jumbo Shrimp offense. The right-hander struck out four of the first six batters he faced and retired the first seven in a row. The lone jam he faced came in the bottom of the eighth on a hit by pitch and walk before inducing a fly out to center and a strikeout of O'Brien to end the threat. He allowed just one hit in four innings of work while walking a batter and striking out seven.
The Shuckers put a pair of insurance runs on the board in the top of the eighth. Hiura led off with a double, moved to third on a lineout by Jake Gatewood and scored on a sacrifice fly from Erceg. Hager capped the scoring with his second homer of the night, a ball to left that crept over the glove of O'Brien. All told, Hager has now homered in three consecutive games, hitting four bombs in three nights. It is his second multi-homer night of the season.
Game Three of a five-game series against the Jumbo Shrimp comes up on Sunday at 3:05 PM EST. The Shuckers will send All-Star RHP Zack Brown (5-0, 2.65) to the mound opposite Jumbo Shrimp RHP Merandy Gonzalez (0-1, 3.38). The game can be heard locally on Cruisin' WGCM AM 1240/100.9 FM, TuneIn Radio or the MiLB First Pitch App.
Single game tickets for the Biloxi Shuckers 2018 season are on sale now and can be purchased at the MGM Park box office or over the phone through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Season tickets, flex plans and group outings are also available and can be reserved by calling 228-233-3465 or visiting www.biloxishuckers.com.
ABOUT THE BILOXI SHUCKERS:
The Biloxi Shuckers are the Double-A Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Shuckers 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.com.
