Fritz Homers Twice, Has Scoreless Outing on Mound as Mississippi Falls to Gateway, 13-5
FL Mississippi Mud Monsters

Fritz Homers Twice, Has Scoreless Outing on Mound as Mississippi Falls to Gateway, 13-5

Published on June 6, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Mississippi Mud Monsters News Release


Mississippi Mud Monsters' AJ Fritz
Mississippi Mud Monsters' AJ Fritz
(Mississippi Mud Monsters)

SAUGET Ill. - The Mississippi Mud Monsters (10-16) found their home-run stroke Saturday night as AJ Fritz launched two home runs and Andrew Semo added another, but Mississippi ultimately fell 13-5 to the Gateway Grizzlies (14-12).

Fresh off the 7-Day Injured List, Brenton Thiels took the mound for his fifth start of the season. The 7-foot Louisiana native had faced Gateway only once previously, tossing a scoreless inning of relief against the Grizzlies during the 2025 season.

Thiels opened his evening with a scoreless first before Gateway scored three runs in each of the next three innings.

The Grizzlies struck first in the second when Sawyer Smith launched a three-run home run to put Gateway in front 3-0.

The second three-run inning followed in the bottom of the third after Bryson Horne hit a solo home run with two outs. Thiels then allowed a walk and a single before Davie Morgan delivered a two-run double to stretch the lead to 6-0.

Mississippi responded in the top of the fourth when Andrew Semo launched his second home run of the season over the left-field wall to cut the deficit to 6-1.

Gateway answered again in the bottom half of the inning. Thiels walked the first two batters before José Alvarez drove in a run with a double to make it 7-1. The Mud Monsters starter then walked the next two hitters, forcing home another run and making it 8-1.

Braden Forsyth came out of the bullpen for Mississippi and limited the damage. He struck out Dale Thomas for the first out, allowed a run-scoring fielder's choice by Smith, and then struck out Morgan to end the inning with Gateway leading 9-1.

AJ Fritz got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth. After Tevis Payne II collected the first of his two singles, Fritz turned an offering from Ty Good into a two-run no-doubter to make it a 9-3 game.

Following a scoreless fifth inning from Forsyth, Gateway picked up its fourth three-run inning of the game in the sixth against Seth McCartney.

McCartney got two strikes on each of the first three batters he faced but surrendered a hit-by-pitch, walk and single to load the bases.

The first run came home on Smith fielder's choice before a walk to Morgan reloaded the bases for a sacrifice fly that made it 11-3.

With two outs, McCartney issued another walk to load the bases before walking Victor Castillo to force home Gateway's twelfth run of the game.

The Mud Monsters picked up their fourth run in the seventh after Jackson Nicklaus led off the inning with a single. Two productive outs moved him to third before Kyle Booker delivered an RBI single, driving in his first run of the series and twelfth of the road trip to make it 12-4.

McCartney bounced back in the bottom of the seventh by striking out Mark Shallenberger and Horne consecutively, but a two-out walk set the stage for Smith's RBI double, his sixth RBI of the night, extending Gateway's lead to 13-4.

Fritz took the mound for his fourth appearance as a Mississippi position player pitcher and worked out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Alvarez, inducing a flyout and ending the inning with a ground-ball force out.

The Lebanon, Ohio native completed a scoreless frame before leading off the ninth by crushing the first pitch he saw from Gateway reliever Jack Hoeymans for his second home run of the game.

The solo blast accounted for the final run of the evening as Mississippi fell 13-5.

The Mud Monsters wrap up their three-game road series against the Grizzlies tomorrow afternoon with a 1:05 p.m. CT first pitch. Southpaw Gage Bihm (0-0, 5.40) get the start for Mississippi while Gateway counters with right-hander Ben Gregory (0-0, 0.00).

Check out the Mississippi Mud Monsters Statistics

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Mississippi Mud Monsters' AJ Fritz
Mississippi Mud Monsters' AJ Fritz
   



Frontier League Stories from June 6, 2026


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