Mud Monsters Plate Runs in Five Straight Frames to Top Crushers 9-3
FL Mississippi Mud Monsters

Mud Monsters Plate Runs in Five Straight Frames to Top Crushers 9-3

Published on June 23, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Mississippi Mud Monsters News Release


PEARL, Miss. - The Mississippi Mud Monsters (16-24) took down the Lake Erie Crushers (17-23) by a 9-3 final Tuesday night, riding the momentum from their road-trip-ending victory into the opener of a six-game series at Trustmark Park.

Art Joven got the start for Mississippi. In his lone start against Lake Erie this season on May 15, the southpaw out of Bakersfield, California struck out a season high 6 and hoped to do more of the same Tuesday night.

The bats continued riding the momentum off a three-homer explosion against Evansville Sunday evening, punching first with two runs in the first.

Brayland Skinner led things off with a bloop single to center field and number two batter Kyle Booker followed with an opposite field RBI single to score Skinner. A bobble by Lake Erie left fielder James Jett allowed Booker to move to second.

Travis Holt singled to put Mud Monsters on first and third and with one-out, Kasten Furr connected on a base hit to score Booker.

After a scoreless second frame for both teams, Lake Erie brought in two runs of its own in the top of the third. A one-out walk to Pavin Parks began things, and a two-out double by Jacob Tobias moved both runners into scoring position for Luis Acevedo.

Acevedo followed with a single to score both runners and knot the game at 2-2.

The Mud Monsters went back to work with their lumber when the bottom of the fourth inning rolled around.

A single sandwiched by two walks to Samil De La Rosa, Andrew Semo and Slater Schield loaded the bases for Brayland Skinner, who promptly broke the tie with a two-run single to give the Mud Monsters a 4-2 lead.

Later in the frame with two outs after a walk to Holt, Lake Erie manager Jared Lemiux opted to relieve starter Bob Helt with left-hander Brandon Scott.

Inheriting the situation from Helt, while facing AJ Fritz, the Crushers' southpaw's second offering of the frame sailed to the backstop to bring home a hustling Schield that made it a 5-2 Mud Monsters advantage before the inning was up.

Lake Erie answered in the top of the fifth to cut into Mississippi's lead 5-3 after Acevedo singled to score Derek Vegas with two outs.

Joven finished his outing going five innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits while walking five and striking out six. The left-hander has now struck out 12 Crushers across two starts against Lake Erie this season.

Following their three spot, Mississippi proceeded to score in the four consecutive innings after the fourth to pull away even further.

The Mud Monsters first answered Lake Erie's fifth-inning run with a run of their own after Booker was hit by a pitch with the bases-loaded to make it 6-3.

In the sixth, after a walk by newest Mud Monster Scout Knotts, De La Rosa singled and Semo plated Knotts with his third hit of the day to make it 7-3.

Mississippi added another run in the seventh after Skinner was plunked by a pitch, stole second and third on consecutive offerings and scored on a Holt groundout to increase the lead to 8-3.

In the eighth, the second single by Furr was followed by Knotts' first base hit as a Mud Monster to put Mississippi runners on the corners.

De La Rosa grounded into a double play to score Furr to bring home the ninth and final run of the game.

Following Joven on the mound, Brayden Sanders and Dallas Woolfolk combined for scoreless sixth, seventh and eighth innings to get the ball to Connor Langrell to get the final three outs.

Langrell retired the side in order on 12 pitches to lock down the 9-3 series opening victory for Mississippi.

The Mud Monsters continue their six-game series against the Crushers Wednesday evening. The game is a What's on a Stick Wednesday featuring mystery Country Pleasin' sausage, mystery beer, and the weekly meat challenge. Right-hander Jackson Smith (3-1, 5.52) gets the start for Mississippi while Lake Erie counters with southpaw Edwin Sanchez (1-1, 3.20). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT and gates open at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Check out the Mississippi Mud Monsters Statistics

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Frontier League Stories from June 23, 2026


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