Chattanooga Lookouts starting pitcher Sean Poppen entered Saturday night’s game against Biloxi at AT&T Field with a 1-3 record and a 7.58 ERA.
Poppen lowered that to 5.61, but the Shuckers extended his struggles record-wise by rallying for a 5-2 triumph before an announced crowd of 5,723. The turnout was AT&T’s third-largest of the season for the Lookouts, who dropped to 1-2 in the Southern League’s second half and to 37-35 overall.
The Lookouts took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Andy Wilkins doubled to right field and scored on Mitchell Kranson’s sacrifice fly to left. It stayed 1-0 all the way to the seventh inning, when Gabriel Noriega, the last Shuckers batter Poppen faced, singled to right to score Jaylin Davis and knot the game at 1-1.
Ryne Harper replaced Poppen and was instantly greeted by a Luis Aviles Jr. double to right that scored Trent Grisham and Noriega, leaving Poppen on the hook for his fourth defeat. The Shuckers struck again in the eighth inning, when Keston Hiura doubled to center and Jake Gatewood doubled to left to score Troy Stokes Jr. and Hiura and give Biloxi a 5-1 lead.
Brent Rooker hit a home run to left in the ninth inning to pull the Lookouts within 5-2. The homer was Rooker’s 11th of the season.