PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Pensacola Blue Wahoos fell to the Columbus Clingstones by a final score of 6-5 on Friday night, allowing four late runs to spoil what had been a dominant pitching performance.
With the loss, the series between the Wahoos (21-22) and Clingstones (21-21) is even at 2-2, following Columbus’ 4-3 win on Thursday night. The Wahoos fell to third place in the South Division standings of the Southern League.
Pensacola scored five runs on 11 hits while drawing five walks, while Columbus plated six runs on five hits and collected eight walks – despite having only one hit through the first seven innings. Notable on the night was Pensacola's Gage Miller, who went 3-for-3 with a run driven in. Emaarion Boyd, Garret Forrester and Fenwick Trimble contributed two hits each and plated four of the team’s five runs.
In his third start of the year, Luis Palacios offered 3.2 strong innings in his longest outing in May at the Double-A level. He gave up no hits while allowing one earned run and four free bases, collecting five strikeouts. As a whole, the Wahoos pitching staff generated 14 strikeouts against the Clingstones offense.
Boyd got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, ripping a single through the right side to drive in Forrester. The Wahoos kept up the pressure just an inning later, with Trimble and Dillon Lewis getting aboard on back-to-back singles and advancing on an overthrow by the Clingstones’ right fielder. Forrester delivered, pushing a two-out single into right field to extend Pensacola’s lead to 3-0.
Columbus answered back in the top of the fourth with an RBI groundout to Payton Green at shortstop. With two outs and runners on the corners, Forrester prevented any further damage by throwing out the runner at second base.
Yet, the Clingstones stayed persistent. Another groundout by Columbus’ Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. drove in another run in the fifth, cutting the Wahoos’ lead in half at 4-2.
Pensacola’s pitching staff held off Columbus in the following innings, sitting down the batters in order in the sixth and seventh. The Blue Wahoos extended their lead in the bottom of the seventh as Gage Miller powered a single up the middle to score Forrester from second base.
However, it seemed the Clingstones’ bats warmed up at just the wrong time. With the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, reliever Colby Martin let up an Archer Brookman single into right field to score two runners and bring the lead within one, 5-4. Pitcher Owen Hackman (W, 1-1) walked away with the win, giving up a double but inducing two groundouts and a flyout from the Wahoos in the bottom of the eighth.
Columbus would tie the game in the top of the ninth against Nigel Belgrave (L, 1-4) with a Patrick Clohisy RBI double into right, and Lizandro Espinosa followed with a go-ahead RBI single. Pensacola went down in order to Columbus’ Luis Vargas (S, 1) in the following half inning to cement the loss, 6-5.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Clingstones on Saturday. First pitch from Blue Wahoos Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT, with a live broadcast beginning at 6:00 on Blab TV, Bally Sports Live, BlueWahoos.com/radio or the MiLB app. For ticket information, visit BlueWahoos.com.