SOUTHERN EAGUE PLAYOFFS: Edwards blast not enough in Biscuits comeback
Xavier Edwards had a grand slam in the ninth inning but the Biscuits came up short in Game 2 on Friday. (File Photo)
By TIM GAYLE
PEARL, Miss. – Xavier Edwards blasted a grand slam in the ninth inning as part of a furious comeback, but the Biscuits would strand the tying run on base as the Mississippi Braves escaped with an 11-9 win over Montgomery in the third game of the best-of-five Double-A South Championship Series at Trustmark Park on Friday night.
The win gave the Braves a 2-1 lead in the series. Mississippi can win its first league title since 2008 with a win in tonight’s game at Trustmark Park. The Biscuits will send Miller Hogan to the mound at 6:05 p.m. in an attempt to force Game 5 on Sunday at 5:05 p.m.
Edwards almost helped the Biscuits pull off the impossible. Trailing 11-4 in the ninth, Edwards hit only the second professional home run of his career, a grand slam off Indigo Diaz, to make it 11-8 and Jonathan Aranda followed with a solo blast off Hayden Deal to bring the Biscuits within two runs.
That marked only the fourth time this year the Biscuits had gone back-to-back over the wall.
After a walk and a hit, the Biscuits had runners at the corners and two outs when Nolan Kingham came on to pitch to Michael Smith, striking him out with a called third strike to end the game.
C.J. Alexander’s RBI single scored Justin Dean with the game’s first run in the third, but the Biscuits avoided further damage when the Braves tried a double-steal attempt with runners at first and third and Connor Hollis gunned down Trey Harris at home from second to end the inning.
Two-out RBI hits by Jacob Pearson and Dean in the fourth extended the Braves’ lead to 3-0, but a two-run homer by Niko Hulsizer in the fifth cut the deficit to a run. Jim Haley reached on an infield single in the next at-bat and scored all the way from first after Shea Langeliers made a throwing error on a steal attempt, and then Dean misplayed the throw in center for a double-error.
Ford Proctor walked against Corbin Clouse to begin the sixth and eventually scored the go-ahead run to make it 4-3 on a Brandon White wild pitch.
Drew Lugbauer hit a solo home run off of Jordan Brink to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth and Langeliers had an RBI double in the seventh to put the Braves ahead for good and make a winner out of White (2-0), the hero of Game Two at Riverwalk who came in and shut down the Biscuits’ offense on Wednesday.
White would do the same again on Friday, pitching two innings of no-hit ball, allowing only a walk in retiring six Biscuits with the game in the balance.
The Braves blew the game open in the eighth inning with six runs on five hits, including a pair of home runs off of Alex Valverde to put the game out of reach. Greyson Jenista had a solo homer and Alexander added a two-run shot to make it 11-4.