M-Braves end season with 8-3 win over Birmingham

PEARL, MS -- The Mississippi Braves (24-44, 58-80) ended the 2017 season with impressive pitching and powerful offense, taking four of five games from the Birmingham Barons (27-42, 53-85) at Trustmark Park. The series and season finale went the way of the M-Braves 8-3, as the home team recorded double digit hits for the second straight game.
Touki Toussaint got the start for Mississippi, and the first inning did not start well. The righty walked the first batter he faced as the Barons scored three runs on four hits in the first inning. Toussaint gave up three hits off first-pitch fastballs in the inning as Birmingham started with an aggressive approach at the plate. 

But the Braves' No. 15 prospect did a complete 180 over the next six innings. Toussaint allowed just two hits the rest of the way and struck out seven to finish the game with seven innings, six hits and eight strikeouts to record his third win of the year at Double-A. The three runs he allowed in the first were all the Barons scored on the day.
Offensively, the M-Braves followed last night's impressive 15-hit performance with a 12-hit game Monday. In the first, the M-Braves got two runs back on two hits and an error. In the second, the M-Braves scored four runs on five hits, including Connor Lien's 10th homer of the season, to take a commanding 6-3 lead after just two innings. Mississippi added a run in the fifth and sixth to put the nail in the coffin of the visiting Barons.
At the plate, eight of nine M-Braves batters recorded a hit in the season finale. Jared James led the way with a 3-hit day, including two doubles. Jonathan Morales and Austin Riley each added two hits in the win as the M-Braves collected five extra-base hits. Out of the bullpen, Mauricio Cabrera, Devan Watts and Corbin Clouse combined for two shutout innings to end the game.
Birmingham: 3-7-1
Mississippi: 8-12-0
WP: Toussaint
LP: Banks
SV: Clouse
Time: 2:24
Attn: 3,052