PEARL, MISS. – The Gateway Grizzlies recorded a sweep of the Mississippi Mud Monsters with a 6-1 win on Thursday night behind a dominant pitching performance from Teague Conrad (1-0) as well as a five-run third inning on offense, winning their fourth straight game in the process and improving to 5-1 on the young season.
Conrad was hyper-efficient on the bump from the get-go, allowing just two singles in the first three innings to the Mud Monsters offense, both of which he erased on double-play ground balls. The second such double play hit into by Nick Hassan to end the bottom of the third kicked off a stretch of 15 straight batters retired by the second-year Grizzlie, with Conrad also facing the minimum number of batters possible through seven and two-thirds innings in the longest start of the season by any pitcher in the Frontier League.
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Offensively, the Grizzlies were silenced in the first two innings by Mississippi starter Brian Williams (0-1), but in the third inning, they pounced again for a big frame. Dale Thomas and Edwin Mateo began it with singles, and after a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Young, both runners were driven home by Cole Brannen, who extended his season-opening hit streak to six games with a triple for a 2-0 Gateway lead.
Brannen would come home on a wild pitch by Williams to make it 3-0, but the Grizzlies kept up the onslaught. Victor Castillo doubled to center field, and D.J. Stewart singled before Ross Friedrick brought in Castillo on a sacrifice fly, making the score 4-0. Mark Shallenberger followed on the next pitch by driving in his first professional run on a double down the right field line, making the score 5-0.
The rest of the game belonged to Conrad, who did not allow a run until there were two outs in the eighth inning. After Karell Paz singled, he went to second on a wild pitch, then third base on a throwing error before scoring on another wild pitch to make the score 5-1. The run remained unearned against Conrad, however, and Gateway was able to plate another run in the top of the ninth on a Mateo sacrifice fly for the final margin. Matt Hickey then finished off the win with a scoreless ninth, capping a 5-1 road trip for the Grizzlies.
Gateway will now return home for their first series of the year in Sauget at the newly-renamed Arsenal B.G. Ballpark, taking on the Trois-Rivieres Aigles on Friday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. CT. Alvery De Los Santos will get the ball on the mound for the Grizzlies against Aigles right-hander Jacob Peaden to kick off the Grizzlies’ 2025 home schedule.
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