MOREHEAD CITY, NC–The Morehead City Marlins (18-5) defeated the Tri-City Chili Peppers (9-12) 9-5 thanks to both strong hitting and pitching. The Marlins recorded 15 hits in the game and held the Chili Peppers scoreless for seven of the nine innings.
Tri-City jumped all over the ball in the second inning, recording five straight base runners and four straight runs.
However, Jovan Gill responded with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the second, his first of the night.
In the third inning, Diego Diaz was able to advance all the way from the plate to third base off two errors from the Chili Peppers and was brought home after a wild pitch.
Two batters later, Jakob Haynes sent his fourth home run of the season over the left field wall, adding to the lead.
In the fourth inning, Zach Greenberg recorded a base knock, and Jake Howard smashed one over the right field wall for his first home run of the season on just his second hit, scoring both.
The Marlins added one more in the sixth before Gill stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning and sent his second home run of the night over the wall. Gill finished the game 4-5 with two home runs, a single, and a double.
The Marlins pitching staff stepped up big time in this one. Kory Williams started the game going for three innings with three strikeouts. Matt Hubbard followed with three innings of work, where he did not allow a run and four strikeouts, getting the win.
Joey Calabretti stepped in for two innings and did not allow a run, which allowed Brandon Carter to finish it out in the bottom of the ninth.
The Marlins will hit the road back-to-back away games.The first of which will be against the Forest City Owls tomorrow at 6:30. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:15 on Mixlr.
