Chattanooga offense too much for Mississippi

PEARL, MS -- In the first home series after the break, the Mississippi Braves (3-3, 37-39) dropped game one of a six-game series to the Chattanooga Lookouts (5-1, 43-28) in a statistically-whacky game. Despite recording 18 strikeouts as a pitching staff, the M-Braves lost 5-1 to the first-half North Division champions.
Left-hander Tyler Pike (0-3) got the start for the M-Braves, and the young hurler struggled to find the strike zone early. In just 2.1 innings pitched, Pike recorded eight walks and five strikeouts.
Chattanooga started the scoring with two outs in the second. Starting with the eighth hitter in the lineup, Pike issued four straight walks on 17 pitches to give up the first run of the game. A much-needed strikeout ended the frame with the bases loaded, and it appeared Pike might have escaped major trouble.

In the third, after a lead-off homer by Jonathan Rodriguez, Pike issued three more walks sandwiched around a strikeout, and the M-Braves went to the bullpen. Michael Mader entered the game and again Mississippi seemed to sway the momentum, as the deceptive lefty fanned two batters to leave the bases loaded again.
But two singles to start the fourth set up Rodriguez, who blasted his second home-run of the night to give the Lookouts a 5-0 advantage and chase Mader from the game.
Mississippi used three more pitchers to finish the game, as Danny Reynolds, A.J. Minter and Devan Watts combined to throw five shutout innings, allowing one hit, two walks and 10 strikeouts amongst them. The pitching staff combined to give up 11 walks and 18 strikeouts on the night.
Offensively, the M-Braves were led by Connor Lien's 2-for-2 night. The outfielder hit a double and single, and reached on a walk, but was stranded at third in all three at-bats. Omar Obregon added two singles, and Travis Demeritte hit his 11th homer of the year, a leadoff shot into the bullpen in left to start the seventh. Although the M-Braves accumulated as many hits as Chattanooga, the home team could not push across the timely hits to keep the game close.
Game two is set for Thursday at 7:00 PM at Trustmark Park in Pear.
Chattanooga: 5-6-0
Mississippi: 1-6-1
WP: Gonsalves (4-3)
LP: Pike (0-3)
Attn: 1869
Time: 3:00