PEARL, Miss. (June 25, 2025) – The Down East Bird Dawgs were held quiet at the plate Wednesday afternoon as the Mississippi Mud Monsters used a three-run fifth inning and strong pitching to hand them a 6–1 loss at Trustmark Park, evening the series at one game apiece.

Mississippi broke the game open in the fifth when Brayland Skinner hit a two-run single and Travis Holt added a base hit to drive in a run to take a 3-0 lead.

The Bird Dawgs threatened in the fifth after Elias Stevens broke up the perfect game with an infield single, but the Mud Monsters stranded two and kept his strong outing intact.

Roberto Gonzalez extended the Mud Monsters’ lead to 6-0 with a busy stretch at the plate, scoring on a wild pitch in the seventh, then driving in a run in the eighth after Karell Paz’s RBI double to make it 6-0.

The Bird Dawgs scored in the ninth as Emmanuel Tapia singled to score Trey Law, but they left two runners on to take a 6-1 loss.

Williams (3-2) earned the win for Mississippi, allowing just two hits and striking out seven over seven innings.

Axel Andueza (2-2) took the loss, giving up one run on one hit in 4 1/3 innings.

The Bird Dawgs fall to 15-24 and will face Mississippi in Game 3 of the six-game series on Thursday, June 26, at 6:30 p.m. CDT.