Jacob Kisting had kept Biloxi without a hit for four innings, pairing six strikeouts with the kind of command that gave Pensacola time to search for a breakthrough of its own. One swing and an apparent injury brought that promising night to an abrupt end.
Damon Keith drove a ball high and deep toward left-center to open the fifth, breaking up Kisting’s no-hit bid and giving the Shuckers their first run. Kisting departed before the next batter, and Biloxi went to work against a bullpen asked to cover the final five innings.
The Shuckers scored five times across the fifth and sixth, building a lead that Pensacola could not erase in a 6-3 loss Tuesday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Kisting allowed one earned run over four innings, walking two. He worked around a leadoff walk in the first and another free pass in the second, then overwhelmed the bottom of Biloxi’s order with three strikeouts in the third. Three fly-ball outs followed in the fourth.
While Kisting controlled the Shuckers, the Blue Wahoos repeatedly reached Bishop Letson without cashing in. Pensacola collected five hits and three walks over Letson’s five innings but was held scoreless through the first four.
Cristian Hernández singled and Max Williams walked in the first before Ryan Ignoffo sent a ground ball into center. Hernández tried to score from second but was thrown out at the plate. Pensacola put two more runners in scoring position in the second, then stranded them, and a third-inning threat ended on a double play.
Those missed chances grew heavier after Keith’s homer.
Nigel Belgrave replaced Kisting and struck out his first two batters, but Mike Boeve doubled before Dylan O’Rae hit a grounder that deflected off second baseman Payton Green and carried into right. Boeve beat the throw home for a 2-0 Biloxi lead.
Pensacola answered in the bottom of the fifth. Adrian Santana drew a one-out walk, moved to second on Hernández’s groundout and scored when Williams flared a single into left. Williams tried to advance on the throw home, but Biloxi relayed the ball to second in time to end the inning.
The Shuckers widened the opening in the sixth. Jesús Made and Andrew Fischer began the inning with singles, and Josh Adamczewski sent a softly hit ball down the third-base line and into the Biloxi bullpen for an RBI double. Matthew Wood later drove a ground-ball double into right, scoring Fischer and Adamczewski for a 5-1 advantage.
All four runs charged to Belgrave came in his 1 2/3 innings.
The Blue Wahoos put together their best response in the seventh. Dylan Jasso and Colby Shade singled before two outs moved them to third and second. Hernández followed with a ground-ball single through the middle, bringing both home and cutting the deficit to 5-3. Williams walked to extend the inning, but Travis Smith entered and retired Dillon Lewis.
Hernández finished 3-for-5 and drove in two of Pensacola’s three runs. Williams reached three times with a single and two walks, while Jasso went 2-for-4 and scored once.
Juan Reynoso kept the game within reach by striking out four over two scoreless innings, but the Blue Wahoos managed only one hit after Hernández’s two-run single. Keith supplied the last run in the ninth, lining a double to left off Jack Sellinger to score Fischer.
Keith finished 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and a walk. Ryan Birchard struck out two in the ninth to close a game in which both clubs collected 10 hits and neither committed an error.