SL1 Mississippi Braves

Lipka, Kennelly Tee off in M-Braves Win

Published on May 2, 2016 under Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Jacksonville, FL - Matt Lipka and Matt Kennelly went yard on Monday night and the Mississippi Braves soared to an 8-2 rubber match win over the Jacksonville Suns at the Baseball Grounds.

Lipka finished the day 4-for-5, a triple shy of the cycle, while Kennelly hit his first affiliated home run since May 9, 2013 for triple-A Gwinnett.

The Braves (10-15) opened the scoring in the first frame. Lipka led off with a double and Dansby Swanson drove him home with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.

In the third, Mississippi made it 3-0. Starter Brandon Barker (3-0) led off with a walk, his first time reaching base in professional baseball. Lipka followed with a ground-rule double to left-center, originally called a home run but called back after the umpires conferred. Swanson grounded out to short to drive home Barker and make it 2-0, then Carlos Franco got his second knock of the game, an RBI single for a 3-0 lead.

Barker got out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth, striking out Francisco Arcia looking to keep the Suns (11-14) scoreless. He picked up the win, allowing two runs on three hits over five innings, striking out four and walking one.

In the fifth, Lipka jumped on Ivan Pineyro (0-1) for a solo home run, his first of the year to grow the lead to 4-0.

Pineyro took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out one and walked one in his first Suns start of the season.

Jacksonville got their two runs in the fifth. Avery Romero led off the inning with a triple to the right field corner, and Peter Mooney hit a two-run homer to make it 4-2.

The Braves scored four in the sixth to put the game away. Franco led off with his third hit of the day, and Kennelly hit a two-run homer to left for a 6-2 lead.

Steve Rodriguez followed with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch, setting up a Johan Camargo RBI single and a 7-2 lead. Two batters later, Lipka got his fourth knock, an RBI single to stretch it to 8-2.

Lipka had a chance to finish the cycle in the eighth, but he foul popped to first to end the inning.

Jason Hursh pitched two scoreless relief innings, and Danny Burawa and Bradley Roney added a scoreless frame each to close it out.

The M-Braves will take Tuesday off for travel before opening a five-game set at the Tennessee Smokies beginning Wednesday, with right-hander Andrew Thurman (0-2, 7.82) set to take the hill in the opener. First pitch Wednesday is slated for 6:05 PM CT at Smokies Stadium.

Check out the Mississippi Braves Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Southern League Stories from May 2, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central