Mississippi 3, Carolina 1

Zebulon, NC- The Mississippi Braves (18-35) legged out three early runs as they relied on the arm of starter Kevin Villa to defeat the Carolina Mudcats 3-1 Thursday night at Five County Stadium.

Villa had his best outing of the season , which spans a staff-leading 25 starts. The 5-10 right-hander took a no-hitter to the fifth inning before giving up a two-out single to Rex Rundgren. Villa lasted 6.2 innings, allowing just two hits to raise his record to 8-9.

Mudcats (25-28) starter Chris Seddon had a shaky second inning, walking the first two batters he faced. Both would reach home as Mississippi would score all three runs in that inning. Diory Hernandez and Josh Burrus started the inning with walks. Clint Sammons and J.C. Holt both had RBI singles.

Hernandez was involved in a scary play in the eighth inning, when an errant throw by Mudcats shortstop Rex Rundgren hit him in the helmet. Hernandez was taken out of the game but was able to walk back to the Braves clubhouse by his own power.

Carolina built a rally in the ninth thanks to three consecutive singles. Rundgren tried to follow that up with the bases loaded but a brilliant, diving catch by Braves centerfielder Carl Loadenthal robbed an extra base hit. Ryan Bear was able to tag up for Carolina’s only run in its last 22 innings.

Gaby Hernandez (8-9, 3.62) will start for Carolina tomorrow in the fourth of five game series against Mississippi. Hernandez will oppose left-hander Francisely Bueno (3-6, 3.59). First pitch will be 7:15.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Mississippi 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 1 Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 3