After dropping their final homestand at Trustmark Park this past week, the Mud Monsters arrived in Joliet looking to begin their final road trip of the season with a win.

A two-out double by Kyle Booker gave the Mud Monsters their first hit against Slammers starter Brock Lucas, but Mississippi was held scoreless in the opening frame.

Taking the hill looking to build upon his team-leading 106.1 innings pitched, Williams immediately struck out leadoff man Ian Battipaglia on three pitches for the first out.

Patrick Ward followed as the second Joliet batter of the night and launched a solo home run to give the Slammers an early 1-0 lead.

Williams regrouped and recorded the second out on a groundout before issuing back-to-back four-pitch walks. The right-hander responded by striking out Tyler Cerny to end the inning.

With the game tied 1-1, Williams returned to the mound and surrendered a leadoff double to Cam Suto before tossing his first scoreless inning of the evening, including a called strikeout of Brandon Heidal for his third punchout of the game.

After Lucas retired the Mississippi bats in order for the first time, Williams took the ball for the bottom of the third and allowed a baserunner to reach on a one-out walk before working his way out of the inning for a second consecutive scoreless frame.

Joshua Shelly drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth before Payne II collected his second single of the evening to put two runners aboard.

A one-out flyout to center by Schield followed to move Shelly to third, and Payne II stole second to join him in scoring position. Lucas, however, pitched his way out of the inning without allowing a run.

Suto collected his second double with one out against Williams in the bottom of the fourth and stole third, but the Mississippi right-hander worked his way out of the frame with a strikeout for the final out to keep the game deadlocked.

Paz reached on an infield single to begin the top of the sixth against a new arm as Joliet turned to southpaw Jack Potteiger.

Paz moved to third on a groundout by Shelly before Payne II collected his third hit of the evening to score Paz and pull Mississippi within one at 3-2.

Bridges drew his second walk of the game to join Payne II on the basepaths and bring Schield to the plate.

Carlos Soto entered in relief out of the Joliet bullpen and recorded the second out on a strikeout before Amani Larry collected his first hit of the evening to plate Schield and extend Mississippi’s newfound advantage to 5-3.

After Williams recorded the first out of the bottom of the eighth, manager Jay Pecci made the call to the bullpen and brought in Connor Langrell.

Williams finished his start after 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits while walking three and striking out seven.

Langrell surrendered back-to-back singles to put two Slammers aboard but responded by recording the final two outs to escape the inning without allowing either runner to score.

After Joliet reliever James Geshel retired the Mud Monsters in order in the top of the ninth, Langrell remained on the mound looking for the final three outs to secure the series-opening victory.

Langrell retired the first batter before allowing Battipaglia to reach on an infield single.

Battipaglia advanced to second on a groundout, but Langrell induced a second consecutive groundout for the final out to secure Mississippi’s 5-3 comeback victory.