M-Braves walk-off on Jacksonville via Lien's solo blast

PEARL, MS -- The Mississippi Braves (11-19, 45-55) continued their magical run at home against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (15-16, 45-56) Tuesday night with another walk-off win at Trustmark Park. Mississippi defeated Jacksonville 3-2 for their third walk-off victory in the last six games, this time with a Connor Lien homer in the ninth.
For the second straight start, Mike Soroka was brilliant. The right-hander pitched seven innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out six. Unfortunately, for the second straight start, Soroka did not pick up a win for his efforts. The M-Braves were held off the bases through three innings by Jacksonville starter Matt Tomshaw, who was brilliant in his own right through seven innings.

In the fourth, Mississippi scratched across the first run of the game with their first two hits of the game, as Tyler Neslony singled in Dylan Moore for his seventh RBI of the year. But Jacksonville answered in the fifth, as Braxton Lee's sacrifice fly scored the only run of the game against Soroka. The M-Braves handled the Southern League's best hitter all night though, as Lee went hitless in three official at-bats.
The M-Braves took the lead again in the seventh on Travis Demeritte's team-best 13th home run. With nobody on and one out, Demeritte sent a laser into the bullpen in left field, giving him two homers in his last three games. But again, the M-Braves would not hold the lead for long.
In the eighth, Jacksonville manufactured a run off reliever Jacob Webb. John Norwood singled with one out, then took second on a balk. A single into left field was misplayed by Neslony, and the unearned run tied the game at two apiece. Webb finished the inning without allowing another runner, then pitch a perfect ninth.
With the game tied 2-2, Mississippi loaded the bases in the eighth with no outs, but a 5-2-3 double play thwarted any chances to score a run. A walk re-loaded the bases for Kade Scivicque with two outs, but the catcher could not capitalize and the M-Braves stranded the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the ninth, Lien led off for Mississippi. On an 0-2 pitch, Lien blasted a no-doubter into the M-Braves bullpen to give the home team an emphatic series-opening win. It was his ninth homer of the season, and first since June 2.
The series continues with game two Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
Jacksonville: 2-8-1
Mississippi: 2-9-1
WP: Webb
LP: Gonzalez
Attn: 2043
Time: 2:25