Fritz Homers Twice, Has Scoreless Outing on Mound as Mississippi Falls to Gateway 13-5
SAUGET, Ill. (June 6, 2026) - The Mississippi Mud Monsters (10-16) found their home-run stroke Saturday night as AJ Fritz launched two home runs and Andrew Semo added another, but Mississippi ultimately fell 13-5 to the Gateway Grizzlies (14-12).
Monster Notes
Mississippi went deep three times, but Gateway’s big innings carried the night.
- AJ Fritz hit two home runs and later tossed a scoreless inning as a position player pitcher.
- Andrew Semo launched his second home run of the season in the fourth inning.
- Kyle Booker drove in his first run of the series and twelfth RBI of the road trip.
- Gateway scored three runs in four separate innings.
Thiels Returns
The right-hander came off the injured list for his fifth start.
Fresh off the 7-Day Injured List, Brenton Thiels took the mound for his fifth start of the season. The 7-foot Louisiana native had faced Gateway only once previously, tossing a scoreless inning of relief against the Grizzlies during the 2025 season.
Thiels opened his evening with a scoreless first before Gateway scored three runs in each of the next three innings.
The Grizzlies struck first in the second when Sawyer Smith launched a three-run home run to put Gateway in front 3-0.
Gateway Adds On
The Grizzlies built their lead in the middle innings.
Gateway stretches the lead
The second three-run inning followed in the bottom of the third after Bryson Horne hit a solo home run with two outs. Thiels then allowed a walk and a single before Davie Morgan delivered a two-run double to stretch the lead to 6-0.
Mississippi responded in the top of the fourth when Andrew Semo launched his second home run of the season over the left-field wall to cut the deficit to 6-1.
Gateway answered again in the bottom half of the inning. Thiels walked the first two batters before José Alvarez drove in a run with a double to make it 7-1. The Mud Monsters starter then walked the next two hitters, forcing home another run and making it 8-1.
Braden Forsyth came out of the bullpen for Mississippi and limited the damage. He struck out Dale Thomas for the first out, allowed a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Smith, and then struck out Morgan to end the inning with Gateway leading 9-1.
Fritz Leaves the Yard
The first baseman started his two-homer night in the fifth.
AJ Fritz got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth. After Tevis Payne II collected the first of his two singles, Fritz turned an offering from Ty Good into a two-run no-doubter to make it a 9-3 game.
Following a scoreless fifth inning from Forsyth, Gateway picked up its fourth three-run inning of the game in the sixth against Seth McCartney.
McCartney got two strikes on each of the first three batters he faced but surrendered a hit-by-pitch, walk and single to load the bases.
The first run came home on a Smith fielder’s choice before a walk to Morgan reloaded the bases for a sacrifice fly that made it 11-3.
With two outs, McCartney issued another walk to load the bases before walking Victor Castillo to force home Gateway’s twelfth run of the game.
Final Push
Mississippi added two late runs, including another Fritz homer.
Fritz finishes on the mound and at the plate
The Mud Monsters picked up their fourth run in the seventh after Jackson Nicklaus led off the inning with a single. Two productive outs moved him to third before Booker delivered an RBI single, driving in his first run of the series and twelfth of the road trip to make it 12-4.
McCartney bounced back in the bottom of the seventh by striking out Mark Shallenberger and Horne consecutively, but a two-out walk set the stage for Smith’s RBI double, his sixth RBI of the night, extending Gateway’s lead to 13-4.
Fritz took the mound for his fourth appearance as a Mississippi position player pitcher and worked out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Alvarez, inducing a flyout and ending the inning with a ground-ball force out.
The Lebanon, Ohio native completed a scoreless frame before leading off the ninth by crushing the first pitch he saw from Gateway reliever Jack Hoeymans for his second home run of the game.
The solo blast accounted for the final run of the evening as Mississippi fell 13-5.
Full Box Score
Gateway 13, Mississippi 5 - June 6, 2026 at Arsenal BG Ballpark
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 6 |
| Gateway | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | X | 13 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Mississippi Batting
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skinner, CF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Furr, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Reed, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Booker, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Holt, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Semo, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Bocchino, 1B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Schield, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Payne II, C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Fritz, 1B/P | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Nicklaus, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 37 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 12 |
Gateway Batting
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castillo, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Alvarez, C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Shallenberger, 1B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Horne, 3B | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Thomas, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Wargo, DH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Smith, SS | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Morgan, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Sanford, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Brannen, CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 32 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 6 |
Mississippi Pitching
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thiels L | 3.0 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| Forsyth | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| McCartney | 2.0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Fritz | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 2 |
Gateway Pitching
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good W | 6.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| Burcham | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hoeymans | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 3 |
Game Notes
2B: Gateway - Davie Morgan, José Alvarez, Sawyer Smith.
HR: Mississippi - Andrew Semo, AJ Fritz 2. Gateway - Sawyer Smith, Bryson Horne.
RBI: Mississippi - Kyle Booker, Andrew Semo, AJ Fritz 3. Gateway - Victor Castillo, José Alvarez, Mark Shallenberger, Bryson Horne 2, Sawyer Smith 6, Davie Morgan 2, Peter Sanford.
Base Running: Brayland Skinner stole a base for Mississippi. Gateway stolen bases: José Alvarez, Mark Shallenberger, Sawyer Smith, Davie Morgan, Cole Brannen.
Pitching: Thiels 78 pitches, 36 strikes. Forsyth 30 pitches, 18 strikes. McCartney 66 pitches, 31 strikes. Fritz 23 pitches, 15 strikes. Good 98 pitches, 62 strikes.
Game Information: Arsenal BG Ballpark. First pitch: 6:38 p.m. Final out: 9:47 p.m. Time of game: 3:09. Attendance: 2,252. Weather: 83 degrees, wind 6 mph southwest.
Up Next
The Mud Monsters wrap up their three-game road series against the Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon with a 1:05 p.m. CT first pitch.
Southpaw Gage Bihm (0-0, 5.40) gets the start for Mississippi while Gateway counters with right-hander Ben Gregory (0-0, 0.00).
About the Mississippi Mud Monsters
Baseball Lives Here. It Just Got a Little Weirder.
The Mississippi Mud Monsters are a professional baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, competing in the Frontier League. Built in the mud and rooted in Mississippi, the Mud Monsters believe baseball should be unapologetically fun, a little weird, wildly welcoming, and deeply tied to the place it calls home. Real baseball. Real people. This is swamp-built, Mississippi-made baseball, where the vibes matter just as much as the final score.