BILOXI, Miss — The Biloxi Shuckers exploded for eight first inning runs against Trash Pandas starting pitcher Sam Bachman (L, 0-4) en route to a 13-4 win Saturday evening at Keesler Federal Park. The 13 runs were the most given up by Rocket City in a single game this season.
The Trash Pandas started the scoring in the first as a three-run homer from first baseman Sam Brown gave Rocket City an early 3-0 lead. It was Brown’s second of the series after going without a dinger through the first 95 games of 2024.
That would be the highlight of the night for the Pandas though, as Biloxi responded with eight runs in the bottom half.
Second baseman Dylan O’Rae led off with a single, stole second, then scored on an RBI single from designated hitter Mike Boeve to put the Shuckers on the board.A walk and a hit-by-pitch later by Bachman would load the bases with no one out before first baseman Ernesto Martinez Jr. rolled a routine grounder back to the pitcher. Bachman overshot the catcher with a lollypop throw to home, which allowed two runs to score and tie the game. Centerfielder Carlos Rodriguez came up next and whipped a three-run homer to right to put Biloxi ahead 6-3. Two batters later, leftfielder Adam Hall lined a single against Bachman before O’Rae ripped a two-run blast to end the onslaught. In all, the Shuckers sent 12 men to the plate in the first.
From there, the Shuckers added another run in the sixth on an RBI single from rightfielder Lamar Sparks before Boeve drilled a two-run round-tripper in the third to make it 11-3. It gave Boeve six hits in his last six at-bats with two homeruns and six RBI.
Rocket City had a silver lining moment in the sixth when first-round draft pick Christian Moore lined the first homerun of his Double-A career to left to make the count 11-4. Moore finished 2-3 in his first Double-A game with a homer, single and two runs scored.
The Shuckers added a run in the sixth when Rodriguez belted a solo blast for his second four-bagger of the night. O’Rae added a sac fly in the seventh for the final run of the night.
Rocket City finished with seven hits for the ballgame. In addition to Moore, Brown went 2-4 with three RBI. The Shuckers, meanwhile, finished with 11 hits. Boeve went 3-5 with a homer, two runs, and three RBI. O’Rae finished 2-4 with a homer, three runs scored, a stolen base and three RBI. Rodriguez went 2-4 with two homers and four RBI. Shortstop Casey Martin chipped in with a 2-4 effort and a run scored.
Bachman went 0.2 of an inning and allowed eight runs, five earned, on five hits to take the loss. The win went to Biloxi starter Tate Kuehner (W, 1-0). Making his Double-A debut, Kuehner allowed four runs on six hits over six frames with five strikeouts.
The Trash Pandas and Shuckers will go at it in the final game of their six-game series Sunday afternoon with first pitch slated for 5:05.