The Chattanooga Lookouts won 6-5 in a rain-delayed matchup of Southern League first-half champions Friday night in Biloxi, Miss. Ending just before 1 a.m. EDT, the game gave Chattanooga a 2-1 edge in the series with two games to go.
Heiker Meneses was 3-for-4 with a double, a run batted in and two runs scored at the bottom of the lineup and leadoff batter Shannon Wilkerson had two RBIs for the Lookouts, who are 6-14 in the second half while the Shuckers are 10-11.
Chattanooga (49-39 overall) had two-run innings in the fourth and sixth, countering a two-run fourth and a two-run ninth for Biloxi (53-36). The Lookouts' insurance run in the top of the ninth proved to be the difference when the Shuckers benefited from two errors and three walks, including one with the bases loaded, to get within a run. J.T. Chargois got his seventh save, though, on a groundout with the sacks still filled.
Max Kepler and Adam Brett Walker each was 2-for-5 and combined for that deciding run for Chattanooga, which also got a 3-for-4 night from catcher Stuart Turner.
Starter D.J. Baxendale (4-2) allowed three runs and struck out seven batters in six innings in getting the pitching win for the Lookouts.
Game four of the five-game series is tonight at 8:10 EDT. Jason Wheeler (0-1, 3.24 ERA) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Lookouts, with Tyler Wagner (6-4, 2.50) scheduled to start for the Shuckers.