Victor Vodnik tosses 5.0 no-hit innings for win, and Jacob Pearson drives in all four runs

Published 2:10 pm Saturday, August 14, 2021

PEARL, MS – The Mississippi Braves took a no-hitter into the ninth inning for the second time this season on Friday night but fell a few outs shy of the no-hitter, settling for a 4-1 victory, and seventh-straight win. M-Braves pitchers combined to hold the Biloxi Shuckers to one hit, and Victor Vodnik (W,1-4) picked up his first victory with 5.0 no-hit innings and a career-high nine strikeouts. Jacob Pearson hit a three-run home run and drove in all four runs for the M-Braves.

Shea Langeliers began the bottom of the second inning with a single to left field and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. The hitting streak is the longest by an M-Braves batter this season. Riley Unroe followed with an infield single, and a couple of batters later, Pearson hit a three-run home run to right field to give the M-Braves (52-36) a 3-0 lead.

Drew Lugbauer opened the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk. He came across to score a few batters later on a sac fly by Pearson, his fourth of the game, to extend the lead to 4-0.

Peter Strzelecki replaced Carlos Luna (L, 1-3) with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Luna finished with 4.1 innings, seven hits, one walk, four strikeouts, and four earned runs.

Odalvi Javier started the sixth inning in relief of Vodnik. The 21-year-old from Rialto, CA went 5.0 innings with zero hits, one walk, nine strikeouts, and zero earned runs.

The Shuckers (32-56) collected their first hit of the game on a David Hamilton solo home run to lead off the top of the ninth inning against Brooks Wilson.

The M-Braves will look to match the M-Braves record for consecutive wins on Saturday night at Trustmark Park. RHP Bryce Elder (6-1, 3.60) will start for the M-Braves against RHP Lucas Erceg (0-4, 5.87). The first pitch is 6:05 pm, with coverage on 103.9 WYAB, mississippibraves.com, and MiLB.tv.