SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Suns sank, 5-4

Published on August 25, 2003 under Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


JACKSON, Tenn. – Jemel Spearman's three-run home run boosted the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx past the Suns, 5-4, in front of 2,102 fans at Pringles Park.

The loss sank the Suns to 31-32 in the second half, 3½ games back of first-place Carolina, whose magic number was reduced to four.

Spearman hit a towering blast in the sixth inning off Suns starter Heath Totten. Totten (10-12) allowed an infield chopper to pitcher Eric Brown to lead off the inning and walked Dwaine Bacon before Spearman's one-out home run, his first with the Diamond Jaxx (61-70 overall, 27-34 second half).

The Suns (62-70) scored first on Nick Theodorou's first inning double which scored Franklin Gutierrez and gave Jacksonville a 1-0 lead. West Tenn tied it on Spearman's RBI groundout in the bottom of the first.

Reggie Abercrombie powered his 14th home run, a solo shot in the third which gave the Suns another lead. Totten's first-pitch flawless bunt down the third base line on a suicide squeeze scored Mike Collins from third, giving Jacksonville a 3-1 lead in the fourth.

Blair Barbier, who committed two errors, redeemed himself by singling home Mike Dzurilla in the fifth to pull the Diamond Jaxx to within 3-2.

After Spearman's homer put the Suns behind two runs, Jason Repko hit a two-out solo home run off West Tenn closer Jason Karnuth in the ninth to pull the Suns to within a run. It was too little, too late. Brown (6-1) earned the victory in relief. Karnuth picked up his 13th save of the season.

Right-hander Brian Pilkington (2-0, 3.32 ERA) is scheduled to face Diamond Jaxx righty Sergio Mitre (7-8, 3.39) at 7:05 CT Tuesday at Pringles Park.

Check out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Statistics

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



Southern League Stories from August 25, 2003


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