Nashville Sounds 7, Charlotte Knights 5 (Gameday Box)
Even though he tossed four walks, Tanner McDougal navigated his control issues fairly well, allowing just one run on a solo home run in the fourth, giving up two total hits and striking out three in his five innings. The unfortunate part of his outing was that the bullpen blew a 5-1 lead, robbing him of his win. The Knights ended up dropping the series finale to the Sounds, 7-5.
Charlotte outhit Nashville 9-6, and they added five runs in the first five innings, but the entire Charlotte bullpen was rough. Three of the four pitchers gave up at least two runs, except for Wikelman González tossing a clean inning with one strikeout. Nashville was trailing the Knights for the majority of the game, but added four runs in the bottom of the eighth to officially take the lead back.
There were three Knights with two or more hits, and three with a double, yet they went 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position as a team, and left 10 on base. Sam Antonacci reached base three times and went 1-for-2 with two walks, though Drew Romo was the sole Charlotte batter with more than one run driven in. On top of that, Jacob Gonzalez had himself a day and went 2-for-4 with a run, RBI, walk, and stolen base.
Birmingham Barons 10, Knoxville Smokies 5 (Gameday Box)
The Birmingham offense popped off for 12 hits and scored 10 runs in the first three innings to provide some wiggle room for the pitching staff to secure its second win of the year, defeating the Smokies, 10-5. Lefthander Shane Murphy had the start for Birmingham, and outside of a two-run home run that didn’t do much damage in the fifth, he had a decent five-inning outing with five hits allowed, six strikeouts, two walks, earning his first win of the season.
On the hitting front, the Barons mashed six of their 12 hits for doubles, and Caden Connor and Calvin Harris were two standouts, accounting for two of those two-baggers and driving in seven of the 10 Birmingham runs. Overall, the Barons went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and left eight more run on base as a team. Braden Montgomery struggled at the plate (0-for-3), but still found ways to be productive and get on base with two walks, scoring once.
Righthander Mark McLaughlin gave up two more runs to the Smokies in the bottom of the eighth on a double out to center, but the rest of the pitching staff was otherwise reliable. Jake Bockenstedt and Jacob Heatherly took the other three innings, and Bockenstedt was nearly perfect for two innings outside of one walk. Heatherly shut Knoxville down in the ninth, with three strikeouts.
Bowling Green Hot Rods 6, Winston-Salem Dash 2 — Opener (Gameday Box)
Starting pitcher Dylan Cumming struggled out of the gate for the Dash in the opener of their Easter doubleheader, lasting just one out and allowing four runs (three earned). The Winston-Salem offense didn’t come alive until late in the game, ultimately dropping the early game to the Hot Rods, 6-2.
Cumming quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the first on a single, walk, and a missed catch, which allowed Bowling Green to rip a two-run double to take a quick lead. He was able to force one ground out, but ended up surrendering one more run after back-to-back walks to score the third run before being yanked. Jake Curtis walked the first batter he faced as well, with that run also being charged to Dylan.
Slightly recovering after the mess in the first, Curtis was decent for his first two innings, but two errors and a balk in the fourth brought in two more for the Hot Rods. Seth Keener and Jonathan Clark allowed just one hit between the two of them for the rest of the game, but the bats were essentially nonexistent.
The Dash mustered just four hits on the day while going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and left seven on base as a team. Kyle Lodise mashed a double down the line to score the two Dash runs, but Ely Brown and Caleb Bonemer couldn’t keep the rally going.
Winston-Salem Dash 10, Bowling Green Hot Rods 5 — Night Cap (Gameday Box)
Though the Hot Rods scored first, the Dash followed that up with nine unanswered tallies before officially taking the nightcap, 10-5. Following the Barons’ lead, Winston-Salem mashed 10 hits and went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position to provide run support to the Dash pitching staff. Drew McDaniel opened for Winston-Salem and outside of an RBI single for Bowling Green in the first gave up just two other hits, walked one, and struck out one.
McDaniel wouldn’t be credited with the win, as that would go to Liam Paddack, who ironically allowed the most runs (three) of all Dash pitchers Sunday. Frankeli Arias gave up a two-run shot after Paddack was pulled in the bottom of the fifth, but otherwise the Hot Rods didn’t get another hit the rest of the game.
While it’s true that the Dash bats were hot, it also certainly helped that they took advantage of mistakes from Bowling Green, as just six of their 10 runs were earned. Four Dash batters had multi-hit games (Caleb Bonemer, George Wolkow, Alec Makarewicz, and T.J. McCants). Both of Bonemer’s hits were for extra bases, though Wolkow and Grant Magill each mashed a homer and racked up six combined RBIs.