Victoria, TX – Kaleb Keith was terrific for eight innings on the mound in game one of the doubleheader against the East Texas Pump Jacks, as the Generals won 2-1 in 9 innings.
It would be 7 shutout innings by both starting pitchers, as Anthony Gonsolin was just as effective on the mound for the Pump Jacks in 5 and 2/3 innings of work.
East Texas would take the lead first in the eighth, as James Lear scored the run on a single from Connor Hornsby.
Robbie Petty came in with 2 outs in the 6th for East Texas, replacing Gonsolin.
Matthew Burks would quickly tie it up in the bottom of the 8th on a solo home run to left, his third of the season.
Justin Pacchioli scored the winning run in the 9th on a wild pitch. He came in to run for Blake Cooper after his leadoff double.
Hayden James received the win in his first appearance of the season for the Generals.
Generals would take game one and look to do the same in game two.
Jeff Chestnut was fantastic in 3 innings of relief for the Generals and picked up the win in game two, as Victoria took both games of the doubleheader, the second game by a score of 3-2 in 9 innings.
The Pump Jacks were able to take an early 1-0 lead in game two of the doubleheader with a run in the 1st inning of play. Three straight two-out singles scored Joe Moroney off the bat of Peter Miller. Ryan Benitez was able to get out of the early jam without any further damage being done.
Alvaro Rondon tied things up for the Generals with a single to left scoring Keith Funk in the bottom of the 3rd.
After three solid innings of work by Benitez, Stuart Springer came into the ballgame for the Generals. East Texas took the lead right back in the 4th inning following a leadoff single by Chris Osborne; he came around to score on an error by the shortstop.
Armando Arevalo and James Swan would proceed to throw back-to-back scoreless frames for the Generals in relief, keeping the score 2-1 through 6 innings.
John Jaeger threw 5 strong innings for the Pump Jacks, before being replaced by Andrew Grifol in the bottom of the 6th.
Another pitching change would open the seventh inning, as Jeff Chestnut came in after one shutout inning thrown by Swan.
Back-to-back one-out singles from Justin Pacchioli and Rondon got the Generals going in the bottom of the 7th. They would both move in to scoring position on a wild pitch. Grifol would then proceed to intentionally walk Brian Portelli and load the bases.
Ray Messner then came in to relieve Grifol. Messner would throw another wild pitch and bring in Pacchioli, tying the game, and there would be extra innings again in Victoria.
Pacchioli scored the winning run in the ninth, again. Following a leadoff single, he moved to second on a groundout by Rondon, then scored the winning run off of Portelli’s groundout and an error by the Pump Jack’s first-baseman.
The Generals will have the next three days off for the All Star game on Tuesday night in Bryan. 9 Generals players will be a part of the team. Following the game, the team will head to Kilgore to play the Pump Jacks again, before returning home Saturday for a two game set with the Cane Cutters. Games now start at 7:05pm, as Saturday is Faith and Family Night presented by Klean Corp International. Fans in attendance will receive a Victoria Generals Rally Towel, thanks to our friends from Sportsmans Church.
