LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Jacksonville bullpen yielded just one earned run in 7.0 innings on Saturday to outlast the Gwinnett Stripers 8-7 in 11 innings from Coolray Field.
From the seventh inning on, Bryan Hoeing, Josh Simpson, Anthony Maldonado (1-0) and Zach Leban combined to yield only one hit in 5.0 shutout innings to help Jacksonville (1-1) to their first victory of the 2023 campaign.
With the score deadlocked at seven, Peyton Burdick started the 11th on second base. He moved up to third on a base hit by Jacob Amaya before Gwinnett (1-1) reliever Matt Swarmer (0-1) ceded a sacrifice fly to Jake Mangum for the Jumbo Shrimp to grab the 8-7 advantage. Leban finished off the Stripers in the bottom of the 11th for his first save.
Fourteen of the fifteen runs in the game were scored in the first six innings, with at least one team scoring in each frame. Xavier Edwards doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored on a double by C.J. Hinojosa on the second pitch of the game for the quick Jumbo Shrimp lead.
Burdick and Amaya jumpstarted Jacksonville with base hits in the second. Mangum socked an RBI double to bring in Burdick. Two batters later, Edwards lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
Gwinnett got on the board in the bottom of the second. Former Jumbo Shrimp Magneuris Sierra walked with one out and moved to second on an error. After a strikeout, Yolmer Sanchez singled Sierra in to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Stripers took the lead an inning later. Joe Hudson led off the inning with a walk. After two quick outs, Braden Shewmake and Jordan Luplow each singled, with the latter knock scoring Hudson. Sierra followed with a two-run triple to put Gwinnett up 4-3.
Jacksonville had a quick answer in their next at-bat. Amaya drew a leadoff free pass and went to second on a balk. After a ground out, Santiago Chavez collected an RBI single to even things at four.
After two quiet half-innings, the Stripers regained the lead in the fifth. Forrest Wall and Vaughn Grissom each drew walks to start the frame. Shewmake followed with an RBI double before Luplow singled in a run for the 6-4 advantage.
However, the Jumbo Shrimp answered immediately again. Jordan Groshans smacked a double to begin the sixth. A walk and an error loaded the bases for Chavez, who came through with an RBI single. An Edwards fielder’s choice knocked in the tying run before Hinojosa put Jacksonville ahead 7-6 with an RBI base knock.
The lead, though, was short-lived again. Sanchez reached on an error to start the sixth and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a base hit and strikeout, Grissom registered an RBI single to knot the score at seven.