Hostetler, Marsee lead Jumbo Shrimp to Saturday victory against Stripers

Hostetler doubles, homers, drives in three in 5-3 victory over Gwinnett

Bennett Hostetler went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBIs in Saturday's victory over Gwinnett. (Wyatt Lucovsky/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp)

By Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

September 21, 2024

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Strong performances from Bennett Hostetler and Jakob Marsee were vital in the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp’s 5-3 victory over the Gwinnett Stripers on Saturday in front of 9,180 fans from 121 Financial Ballpark. Behind 1-0, Jacksonville’s (72-76, 37-36) offense awoke in the bottom of the second. With one

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Strong performances from Bennett Hostetler and Jakob Marsee were vital in the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp’s 5-3 victory over the Gwinnett Stripers on Saturday in front of 9,180 fans from 121 Financial Ballpark.

Behind 1-0, Jacksonville’s (72-76, 37-36) offense awoke in the bottom of the second. With one out, Jared Serna worked a walk and Ali Sánchez laced a double against Gwinnett (72-77, 37-37) starter Bryce Elder (10-6) to put two runners on. With runners at second and third, Hostetler smacked a two-run double to give the Jumbo Shrimp the lead. Harrison Spohn continued the offense with a single, which put two runners on. With runners at the corners and one out, Marsee flared an RBI single to extend the Jacksonville lead. Following a flyout, Dane Myers singled home Spohn to make it a 4-1 game.

Trailing 4-1 in the fourth, Andrew Velasquez cracked a one-out double for the Stripers. Two batters later, Luke Williams singled. With runners on first and third, Gwinnett pulled off a double steal as Velasquez scored from third and Williams advanced to second. Now trailing 4-2, Nacho Alvarez Jr. smacked a single to put runners at the corners. Drake Baldwin followed with a ground-rule double and picked an RBI to make 4-3 Jacksonville.

Leading 4-3 in the sixth, Hostetler (1) clobbered his first Triple-A home run, which extended the Jumbo Shrimp lead to 5-3.

Jumbo Shrimp starter Yonny Chirinos (10-6) yielded three runs, two earned, on eight hits in 5.0 innings with five strikeouts against one walk. Sixto Sánchez pitched a scoreless sixth in a rehab appearance, and following Matt Pushard’s 2.0 shutout innings, Anthony Maldonado tossed a blank ninth inning for his fifth save.

Gwinnett opened the scoring in the second. With two outs, J.P. Martinez reached first on an error. He stole second and scored one batter later on an RBI double from Williams, which gave the Stripers a 1-0 lead.

Jacksonville wraps up its 2024 campaign and six-game series with Gwinnett with Sunday’s 2:05 p.m. contest. LHP Jonathan Bermúdez (1-2, 6.46 ERA) will start for Jacksonville and RHP AJ Smith-Shawver (2-6, 4.92 ERA) will counter for Gwinnett. Coverage begins at 1:50 p.m. on Bally Live, MLB.tv, MiLB.tv, ESPN 690 and www.ESPN690.com.

Gates open at 1 p.m. for Baptist Health Sunday Family FUNday. Join the Jumbo Shrimp as they host a 20-minute, pregame catch on the field. Kids can also feel like the pros after each Sunday game by rounding the bases once the field is clear.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The team calls 121 Financial Ballpark home for baseball but also a wide variety of additional community focused events with a goal of providing Affordable, Family, FUN to Northeast Florida. Winners of many marketing and sales awards and recognition since the team was rebranded prior to the 2017 season, the Jumbo Shrimp continually lead the state of Florida in attendance across all minor league professional sports organizations.