** Carolina 2, Birmingham 1 **

Zebulon, NC - It took the Carolina Mudcats (18-30) more than nine innings to end their six game losing streak to the Birmingham Barons (21-27) but a 2-1 final in 11 innings Thursday did it.

The game saw excellent starting pitching from both Mudcats starter James Russ and Barons Gio Gonzalez. Russ threw 4.2 innings without allowing a hit until a Sean Smith single to right field brought in the only Baron run on the night. Russ ended the night going six innings of one-hit, one-run baseball.

His counterpart Gonzalez, the third best White Sox prospect according to Baseball America, fell one shy of his career record of strikeouts. The Miami native fanned 12 Mudcats threw six innings allowing just three hits.

The Mudcats manufactured a run in the bottom of the fifth when a Jai Miller sacrifice fly brought in Ryan Bear who reached on a walk and advanced to third by a Donny Lucy passed ball.

The game would remain notched at one apiece until the Mudcats 11th inning. Second baseman Eric Riggs started the one out rally with his second double in his brief Mudcats career. Riggs went 2-5 at the plate, bringing his average to .250.  Third baseman Lee Mitchell drove Riggs home to end the game with a single to right.

Mudcats reliever Scott Nestor (W, 1-0) pitched three solid innings to give them the victory. Barons pitcher Tim Bittner (L, 0-1) picked up the loss.

The Mudcats try to even the series up Friday night as Rick Vanden Hurk faces off against Jack Egbert at 7:15 at Five County Stadium.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E Birmingham 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 Carolina 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 0