By: Braeden Jones
PEARL, MS – A high-scoring game does not go the Joliet Slammers’ (12-19) way as the Mississippi Mud Monsters (13-19) have now won two in a row against the Slammers with a 12-7 victory on Saturday.
For the first time in the five games against the Mud Monsters, the Slammers did not score in the top of the 1st inning. The first score of the game went to Mississippi in the bottom of the 2nd when Travis Holt hit a double to score Kyle Booker, who had doubled himself. That gave the Mud Monsters their first early lead against the Slammers this week at 1-0.
Joliet immediately tied up the game after four straight walks in the top of the 3rd scored Billy Sullivan, who had led off the inning. The hitless Slammers left the half-inning after tying up the game 1-1.
Mississippi took the lead right back in the bottom of the 3rd when a Kasten Furr walk and Brayland Skinner single set up a 2-RBI triple for Booker. That gave the Mud Monsters the 3-1 lead after three innings.
Not to be outdone, the Slammers finally got their first hit of the day and it was a good one. Blake Berry took a pitch just over 400 feet in center field to get a 3-run homer, scoring walked batters Ian Battipaglia and Patrick Ward. This changed the lead again, this time favoring Joliet 4-3 after the top of the 5th inning.
The Mud Monsters began to pull away in the bottom of the 5th in an inning where they went through their entire batting order plus one. Furr hit an RBI single to score Tevis Payne II, and Booker had a single of his own that brought Slater Schield home. AJ Fritz one-upped his teammates with a 2-RBI single, scoring Booker and Holt. Vantrel Reed also added to the scoring with a single to allow Andrew Semo to step on home plate, which let Mississippi leave the 5th inning holding a 8-4 lead.
The Mud Monsters decided they wanted more than just double the score as Furr hit an RBI double to score Schield to start the bottom of the 6th. Furr got to come home himself thanks to a Skinner single. This gave the Mud Monsters the 10-4 advantage after six innings.
The Slammers found life in the top of the 7th with two straight home runs. Peyton Carr hit a two-run shot that scored himself along with Ward, and Berry hit a solo homer for his second home run in a row. Joliet had begun to cut down the lead but still trailed 10-7.
Mississippi had two sacrifice outs in the bottom of the 7th to score a pair of runners, with Reed scoring Semo and Payne scoring Fritz. That brought the game to what ended up being the final score of 12-7, with the Mud Monsters taking the victory.
Now half a game behind Mississippi, the Slammers will look to win their sixth and final straight matchup against the Mud Monsters on Sunday before getting Monday off. With a series win already in their pocket, the Mud Monsters look to sweep this home series on Sunday at Trustmark Park.
