May 13, 2004

Chattanooga, TN - Pitcher Casey DeHart singled home the winning run in the ninth inning to send the Chattanooga Lookouts to a 5-4 win over the Carolina Mudcats before 4,028 fans at BellSouth Park on Thursday night.

DeHart, a left-handed relief pitcher, was called upon to pinch-hit for outfielder Ramon Moreta, who was 2-4 in the game. DeHart swatted the first pitch of Bryan Gaal (L, 2-2, 0.1IP, 3h, 1R, 1ER, 1W, 1K) off of the glove of Billy Hall, who dived into the second base hole. DeHart is now 3-4 as a hitter in 2004, and was called on with the bases loaded and one out without a pinch-hitter available to manager Jayhawk Owens.

The Mudcats (20-14) saw their seven-game winning streak snapped, remain tied for first place in the East with the Jacksonville Suns (20-14). Chattanooga (18-16) moved into sole possession of third, two games behind.

Carolina held two leads in the game, bidding for the four-game sweep. The Mudcats went ahead 2-0 in the first on a double by Josh Willingham (3-4, R, 2-2B, 2RBI), and a Michael Tucker (HR, 2, 2-4, R, 2RBI) singled past a pulled-in infield in the fourth for a 4-3 lead.

The game was played in a steady drizzle from the third inning until the finish, but was never delayed.

Jesse Gutierrez hit a three-run homer off of starter Ronald Belizario (ND, 5IP, 8H, 4R, 4ER, 3W, 4K) in the first inning, putting the Lookouts ahead 3-2.

Tucker drilled his second homer of the season to open the second inning against former major leaguer Seth Etherton to tie the game 3-3.

Carolina continues its eight game road trip Friday night against the Tennessee Smokies at 7:15 PM ET at Smokies Park. Former Smokie Peter Bauer (3-1, 2.81) starts for Carolina against Tennessee RH Brad Thompson (5-0, 0.00).

Carolina 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 --- 4 7 1 7
Chattanooga 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 --- 5 12 1 13

WP - Shearn (3-2)
LP - Gaal (2-2)
S - None.

HR - Gutierrez (4), Tucker (2)
Time: 3:01
Att: 4,028

Notes: Carolina's loss was its first in its last 11 games against the Eastern Division... The Lookouts had only two bench players, but Owens used both Travis Wilson and Andy Beattie as pinch-hitters earlier in the game. Edwin Encarnacion was finishing up a three-game suspension, and was unavailable... With Carolina's loss, coupled with West Tenn's win over Tennessee, the Diamond Jaxx have the longest active winning streak in the minors at eight games, along with the Erie Seawolves of the Eastern League... Jason Stokes was scratched from Carolina's lineup less then an hour before the game with an ankle injury. Stokes fouled a ball off his ankle early during Wednesday afternoon's game. Stokes took batting practice and groundballs before the game, but was replaced shortly before the game by Michael Tucker. Stokes is expected to play Friday night.