PEARL, Miss. (June 27, 2025) – After a 54-minute rain delay, the Down East Bird Dawgs poured on the offense with a six-run sixth inning Friday night, pulling away for an 11–4 win over the Mississippi Mud Monsters at Trustmark Park.

Mississippi struck early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Victor Diaz and a sacrifice fly by Nilo Rijo. Travis Holt added an RBI single in the second to make it 3-0.

The Bird Dawgs answered in the fourth when Stephen DiTomaso roped a two-run double into left to cut the deficit to 3-2. They tied it in the fifth as Ali LaPread doubled home Emmanuel Tapia from first, then took a 4-3 lead on Jaylen Smith’s RBI single.

The bats broke loose in the sixth. Trey Law scored on a wild pitch, Tapia walked with the bases loaded, LaPread followed with an RBI single, and Smith cleared the bases with a three-run double to stretch the lead to 10-3.

Rijo plated a run with a groundout in the eighth to bring Mississippi their fourth run.

Yassel Pino added a run in the ninth for the Bird Dawgs on a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring at 11-4.

Spencer Johnston (4-3) earned the win, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while striking out four over six innings. Drew Durst picked up the save, pitching the final three innings while giving up one run on two hits, striking out four.

Rodney Theophile (2-4) took the loss, giving up seven runs on 10 hits across five innings.

DiTomaso led the Bird Dawgs offensively, going 5-for-6 with two RBIs.

The Bird Dawgs improve to 17-24 and look to clinch the series against Mississippi in Game 5 of 6 on Saturday, June 28, at 6 p.m.