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SL1 Mississippi Braves

Casteel Records First Three-Homer Game in M-Braves History

July 3, 2019 - Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


PENSACOLA, FL - In one of the wildest games in Southern League history, the Pensacola Wahoos (9-5, 46-36) erased a seven-run deficit in the seventh inning to beat the Mississippi Braves (6-8, 39-44) on Wednesday night in Blue Wahoos Stadium, 14-13. In the loss, Ryan Casteel became the first M-Braves player to hit three home runs in one game and the five overall home runs set a new club record.

Casteel finished the night 4-for-5 with a double, three home runs, five RBI and four runs scored. It was the 28-year-old's second multi-homer game in two weeks, having blasted two on June 23 at Biloxi. Casteel now has a team-leading 14 home runs on the season.

As a team, the M-Braves a tied the Southern League record with 13 of their 15 hits going for extra-bases. The M-Braves hit seven doubles, a triple and five home runs on Wednesday night. The combined 20 extra-base hits set a new Southern League record.

The game began with a cycle from the first four M-Braves batters. Cristian Pache led off with a double and then scored on Drew Waters' league-leading ninth triple. Waters came into score on a single from Tyler Neslony, and then Casteel ripped a two-run home run to make it 4-0.

Ian Anderson pitched just the first inning on Wednesday night in a final tune up for Sunday's All-Star Futures Game in Cleveland. Andres Santiago took over for Anderson and surrendered three runs in the second inning to trim the lead to 4-3.

Greyson Jenista hit his first Double-A home run in the third inning to put the Braves up 6-3. The two-run shot came in his 22nd game since his promotion from High-A.

Leading 6-4 in the fourth inning, the M-Braves seemingly put the game out of reach by scoring four runs to take a 10-4 lead. The inning was capped off by back-to-back home runs by Neslony and Casteel. Neslony's three-run home run was his fourth of the season scored Pache and Waters. All four runs, plus the Jenista home run were scored with two outs.

Pensacola scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to pull within 10-6, but the M-Braves pushed the advantage to seven with Casteel's third long ball of the game - a two-run shot - in the sixth inning and an RBI double from Waters in the seventh inning. Waters finished the night 2-for-5 with two runs, a double, triple and two RBI. He leads the league and all of Double-A baseball with 107 hits and 41 of those going for extra-bases. Neslony was 3-for-4 and reached base four times with a home run, double, three runs scored and four RBI. Pache collected a three-hit game going 3-for-6 with two doubles and two runs scored from the leadoff spot. Pache is one behind Waters with 40 extra-base hits. Mississippi saddled Pensacola starter Jorge Alcala with 10 earned runs over just 3.2 innings.

Pensacola sent 12 batters to the plate and brought home seven runs to tie the game at 13-13. Lewin Diaz hit a three-run double against M-Braves reliever Jordan Harrison after a run was walked in to make it 13-10 and then a two-run home run from Ben Rortvedt brought the Wahoos within a run at 13-12. With two outs, Brian Navaretto brought home Diaz with a single to tie the game.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Rortvedt struck again with an RBI single off of All-Star reliever Jeremy Walker (L, 1-6) scoring Travis Blankenhorn to give Pensacola a 14-13 lead.

The 27 combined runs and 36 combined hits are both M-Braves records, falling just shy of the Southern League mark. The seven-run blown lead is the largest in club history. Pensacola swept the four-game series from the Braves and lead the season series, 9-5. Pensacola will pay two more visits to Trustmark Park this season.

The M-Braves head home for an Independence Day date with the Biloxi Shuckers on Thursday night and game one of a six-game game set at Trustmark Park. LHP Kyle Muller (5-5, 3.49) will start for the M-Braves against Biloxi RHP Bowden Francis (4-6, 4.43). First pitch for the is scheduled for 6:35 pm with coverage beginning at 6:20 pm on 103.9 WYAB, TuneIn Radio and MiLB.tv (subscription required).

Thursday's Promotions:

Independence Day Fireworks Mega Show: Trustmark Park is the place to be for baseball and Fireworks on Independence Day. We will have a larger than usual Fireworks Extravaganza following the game presented By Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi.

Live Music - The Jackson All-Stars will be performing Dixieland Jazz and playing Patriotic tunes pregame from 5:15 to 6:30 on the plaza.

M-Braves Cornhole Tournaments - Join us on Thursdays this season for M-Braves Cornhole Tournaments presented by Central MS Corn-Hole & Good Times! We'll have competitive tournaments outside the Farm Bureau Grill on the right-field concourse starting at 6:00 pm. Significant cash & prizes to winners! $5 entry per player.

Visit mississippibraves.com for tickets or call 888-BRAVES4.

The Mississippi Braves are the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Since the inaugural 2005 season, 144 M-Braves have gone on to Major League Baseball. The M-Braves have made postseason play four times and went on to win the Southern League Championship in 2008. Stop by Trustmark Park or call 888-BRAVES4 Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. For the latest news and updates, visit mississippibraves.com or connect with @mbraves on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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