Charlotte, NC – The Nashville Sounds (67-60, 29-23) fell behind by two runs early but used big fourth and sixth innings to rout the Charlotte Knights (58-67, 25-26), 12-2, on Wednesday night at Truist Field.
Down 2-0 in the fourth inning, the Sounds jumped all over Charlotte reliever Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa for four runs on four hits. Brewer Hicklen opened the scoring with an RBI groundout followed with singles by Patrick Dorrian and Isaac Collins to give Nashville a 4-2 lead.
Nashville did not look back and blew the game open in the sixth with six more runs. The Sounds played station-to-station baseball with four walks including two from Owen Miller, a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch in the inning.
Wes Clarke put the foot on the pedal with a sharp line drive to center field that scored two and Brian Navarreto joined the scoring part with his own RBI single. Nashville ended the inning with a comfortable 10-2 lead which would be more than enough behind an excellent showing from the pitching staff.
Two Knights scored off Carlos Rodriguez (8-8) in the first inning but that was all they would get. Rodriguez settled in nicely and did not give up a hit for the rest of his outing which included a stretch of 12 consecutive batters put down. He added six strikeouts in his fourth straight quality start en route to his eighth win on the season.
All home runs count the same even when they are off position players as Brewer Hicklen found out when he launched a two-run blast off Danny Mendick in the eighth inning to give him a round-tripper for the second night in a row. The middle of the lineup of Tyler Black, Clarke and Hicklen combined for five runs scored and six RBI in tonight’s game.
In low-leverage roles late, Tyler Jay and Elvis Peguero combined for the final six outs without a threat to seal a dominant 12-2 win and even the current series at one.
Post-Game Notes
- Brewer Hicklen (1-for-5, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, 2 K) has now hit a home run in back-to-back games for the fourth time this season. Before the last two games, Hicklen has struggled in August, hitting .169 with 30 strikeouts in 77 at-bats. At the time of this publication, he moves into a tie for sixth place in the International League with 21 home runs and leads the way with 41 stolen bases.
- Carlos Rodriguez (7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K) worked his way to his fourth consecutive quality start and now leads the team with nine on the season. He also tied a career-high with seven innings pitched that he accomplished on May 27th, 2023 versus Montgomery. In August, he has a 2.37 ERA (30.1 IP/8 ER) with 30 strikeouts.
- Every Sounds player either had a hit or an RBI in tonight’s game. Isaac Collins, Vinny Capra, Wes Clarke and Patrick Dorrian all had three-hit games. Brewer Hicklen had three RBI with Collins and Clarke adding two each.
The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Season ticket memberships for the 2025 season are on sale now.
For more information, call 615.690.4487 or e-mail tickets@nashvillesounds.com.
