KINSTON, N.C. (May 20, 2025) – The Down East Bird Dawgs were unsuccessful in game one of six against the Mississippi Mud Monsters on Tuesday. They left 12 runners on base as they out-hit the Mud Monsters 10-9.

Mississippi started the game off strong as they scored three runs in the first and had nine batters come to the plate. Karrell Paz hit an RBI single, and Roberto Gonzalez smacked a two-RBI single to take a 3-0 lead.

The Mud Monsters added to their lead in the fourth as Victor Diaz and Samil De La Rosa scored on an error to jump up 5-0.

The Bird Dawgs scored their first runs in the bottom of the fourth as Stephen DiTamaso grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Kam Guidry, and Cole Hill hit an RBI single to Gehrig Ebel to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Each team scored a run in the fifth as Travis Holt scored on a De La Rosa single for Mississippi, and Ebel hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Yassel Pino for the Bird Dawgs to make the score 6-3.

The Bird Dawgs brought their final run home in the eighth as Hill launched a sacrifice fly to center that brought home Trey Law, but that’s all they could muster with the final score 6-4.

Tyree Thompson earned the win for the Mud Monsters, delivering one inning of work while giving up no runs, and Sergio Sanchez pitched a one-two-three ninth for Mississippi to secure the save.

Carter Raffield surrendered the loss as he went the first three innings while giving up three runs. Nate Lamb delivered six innings in relief for the Bird Dawgs, allowing one earned run while striking out two batters.

The Bird Dawgs drop to 2-6 and play game two of the six-game series against Mississippi on Wednesday, May 21, at 11 a.m.