Stars Rout Smokies, 11-5

July 26, 2003 - Southern League (SL1)
Huntsville Stars News Release


Huntsville, AL – It was all good Friday night at Joe Davis Stadium. Top prospect Brad Nelson got his first two hits for Huntsville and drove in his first run. Ryan Knox returned to the Stars, reached base, stole second and scored a run. Jeff Housman won his second straight start since a promotion from low-A Beloit, and the Stars pounded Tennessee, 11-5, to gain a split of the four-game series. To cap it off, Huntsville (17-15, 57-43) moved back into a three-way tie for first in the Southern League West second-half standings.

Twice the Stars scored five in an inning, including a game-clinching five-spot in the eighth that turned a 6-4 game into a Huntsville rout. Corey Hart had his fourth straight multi-hit game and fifth in the last six. He finished 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, two runs batted in and three runs scored. Nelson went 2-for-4, singling twice, driving in a run and scoring one. Noochie Varner slammed a three-run homer, his fourth of the season, singled twice and knocked in four. Chris Barnwell, in his only start of the series, was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, and J.J. Hardy snapped an 0-for-20 slide, his longest hitless stretch this season, with an eighth-inning single.

Housman (2-0) picked up his second win in as many starts for Huntsville, going 5 2/3 innings, permitting two runs on six hits and five walks while fanning two. Julio Villalon (4-2), who fanned 11 Stars in a loss the last time he faced them, suffered his second loss after surrendering five earned runs on five hits and three walks in four innings.

Huntsville travels to Chattanooga for a four-game series against the Lookouts beginning Saturday night. The Stars match righty Jason Shelley (1-0, 0.00), coming off a three-hit, 10-strikeout shutout in his double-A debut on Sunday, against Lookouts lefty John Koronka (7-9, 3.79). Game time is 6:15 p.m. CT. The Bill Penney Toyota Pre-game Show starts at 6:00 p.m. CT. Stars baseball can heard on Jammin' 1550 WLOR, ESPN 1450 WTKI and at www.huntsvillestars.com.



Southern League Stories from July 26, 2003


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