PENSACOLA, Fl. - The Pensacola Blue Wahoos bounced back with a win on Thursday night over the Biloxi Shuckers. Led by a stellar start from Luis Moreno and bombs from Aiva Arquette and Max Williams, the Wahoos ended on top 7-2.
For the first time in the series, the Blue Wahoos struck first. After Jaron DeBerry (L, 8-9) set down the first five Wahoos in order, Ethan O’Donnell wore a hit-by-pitch with two outs in the second inning. Payton Green followed that with a run-scoring double into left field. One pitch later, Emaarion Boyd singled into right field, plating Green and putting Pensacola up 2-0.
In the bottom of the third, Aiva Arquette had a rude greeting for DeBerry by launching his 10th bomb of the year into Pensacola Bay. It was not the first time Arquette had taken DeBerry deep, he hit a solo bomb off of him back on August 11th as well. Arquette now has six hits in nine at bats against the Biloxi starter in his career.
With a 3-0 lead, Luis Moreno (W, 7-7) blinked in the 4th. Matthew Wood sent a solo home run halfway up the scoreboard in right field to make it a 3-1 game. The only other blemish for Moreno came in the 6th inning when Andrew Fischer obliterated his 47th home run of the season into right. The home run marked a milestone, giving Fischer the most homers by a minor leaguer since Ryan Howard hit 46 in 2004.
Before Fischer could etch his name in history though, Max Williams continued his hot streak with a 439 foot two-run blast in the 5th. The homer was his 5th in 6 games with Pensacola.
A 5-2 lead wasn’t enough for the Wahoo offense, so they added two more runs in the bottom of the 8th. With Cristian Hernández on second and Payton Green on first, they both took off stealing. The throw was to second base, but ended up in center field allowing Hernández to score. Dylan Jasso dinked a single off the glove of third baseman, bringing Green home and putting the Wahoos up 7-2.
Nigel Belgrave entered in the 7th inning and put all nine batters he faced away in order, sealing his team-leading 10th save of the year. The Wahoos improved their record to 78-56 overall and 42-23 in the second half. Biloxi fell to 64-67 and 29-37. If Pensacola can win two of their final three games, they’ll finish their regular season with the best record in franchise history.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Biloxi Shuckers on Friday night. First pitch from Blue Wahoos Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT, with a live broadcast beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Bally Sports Live, BlueWahoos.com/radio or the MiLB app.