M-Braves take series finale, shutout Shuckers

PEARL, MS -- In a series where each team saw impeccable pitching, timely hitting and the occasional run scored, it only made sense the series finale would come down to a one-run, who-can-find-a-way-on-base battle. Fortunately for the 3,000 fans in attendance, the Mississippi Braves (31-29) came out victorious in that battle, and sent the Biloxi Shuckers (31-29) home with a four-games-to-one series loss in hand.
Game five was decided on the mound, and it started with two highly touted prospects with similar pitches, approaches and names. The Shuckers sent right-hander Luis Ortiz to the mound against Mississippi lefty Luiz Gohara, and they each put on a show. In four innings of work, Ortiz gave up just one hit and two walks, all in the fourth inning, but did not allow a run to score. Gohara matched him all the way, going five innings of scoreless ball, allowing three hits and striking out seven.

In relief, the M-Braves sent Chad Sobotka (3-1) out for the next three innings, and the righty picked up where Gohara left off. In the three frames he pitched, Sobotka only gave up two hits with no walks and one strikeout. When the M-Braves finally scratched across a run in the seventh, Sobotka promptly retired the side in the eighth on just seven pitches before giving way to Danny Reynolds (S, 1) in the ninth. Reynolds found himself in some trouble against the top of the lineup, giving up a single and walk with just one out. But the lefty used a popup and weak grounder to third to end the ballgame and pick up his first save of the season.

The first seven-and-a-half innings of the game were quiet, as neither team put together much offense. The Shuckers had singles in the first, third and fifth off Gohara, but were never able to put more than one man on base or move past second. The six hits Biloxi accrued were scattered across six innings, and the only time the Shuckers had two men on base was with one out in the ninth.
For Mississippi, all the offense came in two innings. In the fourth, the M-Braves got a two-out walk from Travis Demeritte, a single by Levi Hyams and a walk by Kade Scivique to load the bases, but Connor Lien was unable to push a run across. Then in the seventh, Scivique hit a double to left field to set up Dylan Moore's double off the wall in left to score the winning run. It was all the offense the Braves needed to take the game just six outs later.
Mississippi heads to Pensacola as the top two teams get set for a five-game series on the coast, with game one starting Friday at 6:30 PM.
Biloxi: 0-6-0
Mississippi: 1-3-0
WP: Sobotka (3-1)
LP: Salas (0-1)
SV: Reynolds (1)
Attn: 3,033
Time: 2:17