Ernesto Mejia blasted his 20th home run of the season in a key point of Tuesday’s game against the Huntsville Stars.

Down 2-0, the slugger blasted a fastball from Chase Wright over the screen in centerfield at Trustmark Park for a no-doubter to give the M-Braves a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish en route to a 5-4 win.

The home run gave Mejia the M-Braves’ record for home runs in a season. The record was previously held by outfielder Matt Esquivel in 2007 with 19.

The M-Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth. Ed Lucas, Mat Kennelly, and Sean Henry reached on base hits. Dan Nelson grounded into a fielder’s choice, which allowed Lucas to score and extend the M-Braves’ lead. Richardson walked to reload the bases for another walk by Mycal Jones to boost the lead to 5-2.

Huntsville fought back to make it a one-run game in the ninth, stranding two runners in scoring position. In the inning, the Stars had just one hit, an error, three walks, and a hit batsman. Richard Sullivan held on to record his first save of the season.

M-Braves starter Chris Cody (2-0) went six innings. The Manhattan College product allowed two unearned runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out six.

Chase Wright (0-1) gave up five earned runs. He surrendered seven hits in five innings of work. He also pitched to two batters in the sixth.

Initially, the Stars took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. With two outs, Matt Cline reached on an error by third baseman Donell Linares and took second on a wild pitch. Sean Halton reached on another error by Linares, allowing Cline to score.

Cline singled with two out in the top of the fifth. He then took second on a wild pitch before coming in to score when Halton reached on an error by second baseman Willie Cabrera.