This Day in Shuckers History: June 6
While we wait until we can bring you live baseball, let’s take a look back at this date in Biloxi Shuckers history. The Shuckers have played five games all-time on June 6 and have a 4–1 record.
On June 6, 2015, the wait was over as MGM Park opened its gates for the first time following years of planning and several months of construction delays. Following pregame ceremonies, Tyler Wagner threw the first pitch in MGM Park history to Jack Reinheimer at 7:10 p.m. The BayBears leadoff batter singled before coming around to score later in the inning. Kyle Wren singled to lead off the bottom of the first for the first Shuckers hit at MGM Park, and then Nate Orf came in to score on a Taylor Green groundout in the fifth for the first run by a Shuckers player at MGM Park.
Wagner settled into a groove with seven quality innings, allowing just one run while also contributing at the plate. His double ignited a two-run rally in the sixth inning that saw runs score on a groundout by Tyrone Taylor and a sacrifice fly by Orlando Arcia. Mobile tied the game with a run in the eighth and ninth innings to send the game to extra innings. The teams remained tied at 3 all the way until the 14th inning when Mitch Haniger gave Mobile a 4–3 lead with a single.
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In the bottom half, Orlando Arcia led off with a single and scored three batters later on a sacrifice bunt by Parker Berberet. With pitcher Brent Suter pinch-running for Nick Ramirez at second base, Nick Shaw singled to right field and Suter came in to score the winning run and cap an epic home opener for the Shuckers. The game lasted 4 hours and 26 minutes and was played in front of a jubilant crowd of 5,065.
Josh Hader made his final start at the Double-A level on this day in 2016 and struck out eight Biscuits batters in six innings with just one run allowed en route to a 4–2 win in Montgomery. Brett Phillips tripled to start the game for the Shuckers, while Jacob Nottingham and Javier Betancourt each drove in runs with a base hit to pace the offense.
In 2017, it was the Blake Allemand show as he went 4-for-4 with three doubles and three runs batted in to lead Biloxi to a 7–1 win over the M-Braves in Pearl. Johnny Davis, Jacob Nottingham and Dustin DeMuth all chipped in two hits in support of Angel Ventura, who was dominant on the mound. Ventura gave up just three hits and one run in seven innings to earn the victory.
Jake Gatewood homered in a 5–1 loss at Pensacola in 2018, and then the Shuckers and M-Braves played a nail biter last year. Gatewood had a two-run homer and Patrick Leonard picked up three hits to spark an early offensive outburst that saw Biloxi jump out to a 6–0 lead in the fifth inning, but Mississippi came roaring back. Braves top prospect Christian Pache hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, and the Shuckers lead was ultimately cut to one run in the ninth after Nate Griep surrendered two runs. Griep maintained his composure and got Ryan Casteel to ground out with the winning runs aboard to clinch a 7–6 win for Biloxi and cap a series in which they took four of five games at TrustMark Park.
The walk-off win in the first game at MGM Park in 2015 remains one of the most dramatic moments in Shuckers history. In addition, Josh Hader, Brett Phillips and Jake Gatewood did their part in later years to make June 6 an all-around positive day for Biloxi.
