MADISON, AL — Anthony Scull sent Toyota Field into a frenzy Wednesday night, launching a towering walk-off home run to right field to complete a dramatic comeback and give the Rocket City Trash Pandas (24-23, 59-56) a 5-4 victory over the Biloxi Shuckers (20-27, 55-57). Scull jumped on the third pitch he saw from Edwin Jimenez to open the bottom of the ninth, sending it 417 feet over the right-field scoreboard for Rocket City's second walk-off victory of the season and 10th walk-off home run in franchise history.
The walk-off capped a comeback from a three-run deficit after Biloxi built a 4-1 lead through the top of the fifth. Rocket City chipped away before Juan Flores delivered the game-tying two-run single in the eighth, setting the stage for Scull's heroics an inning later.
Trash Pandas starter Lucas Knowles and Biloxi right-hander Peyton Niksch traded zeroes through the first three innings before the Shuckers broke through in the fourth. Baseball's top prospect, Jesús Made, started the rally with a one-out single before Braylon Payne doubled to right, scoring Made and advancing to third on the throw home. Damon Keith followed with a sacrifice fly to center, bringing home Payne for a 2-0 Biloxi lead.
Rocket City answered immediately in the bottom of the inning. Jake Munroe, who singled in the first, led off the fourth by driving a solo home run to left field for his fifth with the Trash Pandas, cutting the deficit to 2-1. The homer gave Munroe his second hit of the night and extended his franchise-record on-base streak to 32 consecutive games.
Biloxi responded with two more runs in the fifth. Darrien Miller was hit by a pitch before Mark Coley II and Dylan O'Rae followed with consecutive singles to load the bases with nobody out. Luis Peña then lined a two-run single to right, scoring Miller and Coley to extend the Shuckers' advantage to 4-1.
With Biloxi threatening to add more, Rocket City turned to Chris Cortez with runners at the corners and nobody out. The right-hander completely changed the inning, striking out Made before picking Peña off first and retiring Andrew Fischer on a groundout to strand O'Rae at third.
The Trash Pandas immediately got one of those runs back. Scull beat out an infield single to begin the bottom of the fifth before Arjun Nimmala drove an RBI double to center, scoring Scull and trimming the deficit to 4-2.
Rocket City threatened again in the sixth when Flores and Jake Thompson collected consecutive one-out singles, but Biloxi reliever Jesús Broca escaped the jam with a strikeout of Cole Fontenelle. The Shuckers then turned a double play in the seventh after Scull drew a leadoff walk, keeping their two-run advantage intact.
Meanwhile, the Trash Pandas bullpen kept the game within reach. Cortez retired all five batters he faced over two perfect innings, striking out three, before Nicolo Pinazzi worked around a walk with two strikeouts in a scoreless seventh. Camden Minacci followed with a perfect eighth, including a strikeout of Fischer. The three relievers combined to hold Biloxi hitless from the fifth through the eighth.
That work paid off when Rocket City finally erased the deficit in the eighth. Munroe opened the inning with his third hit of the night, beating out an infield single, before Tucker Flint drew a walk. Nick Rodriguez moved both runners into scoring position with a groundout, and Flores lined a two-run single to left to score Munroe and Flint, tying the game at 4-4.
Minacci (W, 4-3) returned for the ninth and kept the game tied. Mike Boeve singled with one out, but Minacci struck out Miller before getting Coley to fly out to right, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth with Rocket City needing just one run.
It took only three pitches.
Biloxi turned to Jimenez to begin the bottom of the ninth, and Scull drove his third offering deep to right. The ball sailed over the scoreboard for Scull's second home run of the season, giving the Trash Pandas their first walk-off victory since Denzer Guzman's walk-off homer against Chattanooga on April 5, 2025.
Scull finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and a walk, reaching base three times. Munroe went 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored, recording his 16th multi-hit game since joining Rocket City and pushing his on-base streak to 32 games. Flores added two hits and drove in the two tying runs, while Nimmala doubled home a run as Rocket City finished with 10 hits.
Knowles allowed four runs on six hits over 4.0-plus innings, walking one and striking out two before the bullpen took over. Cortez, Pinazzi and Minacci combined for 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out seven to give the offense an opportunity to complete the comeback.
The victory gave Rocket City its second straight win to open the six-game series while handing Biloxi a club-record 13th consecutive loss. The Trash Pandas moved within 2.0 games of first place in the Southern League North Division second-half standings and remain 2.0 games ahead of Birmingham for the North's second playoff spot, lowering their magic number over the Barons to 20.
The Trash Pandas and Shuckers continue their six-game series on Thursday night at Toyota Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm with RHP Jose Gonzalez (3-3, 5.45) starting for the Trash Pandas against RHP Manuel Rodriguez (10-4, 4.95) for Biloxi. Fans can watch Bally Sports Live, MiLB, or MiLB.TV. The game can be heard on ESPN 97.7 The Zone and Talk Radio WZZN 97.7 FM HD-2.