Hartman continued his strong offensive start to the season for the Emperors despite the loss.
(8-5) Gwinnett Stripers 6, (6-6) Nashville Sounds 5
- Aaron Schunk, 1B: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-4, R
- Rolddy Munoz, RP: 1.1 IP, 3 K
- Eliser Hernandez, SP: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
It took some late inning magic and a bit of luck, but Gwinnett managed to get the win by walking off Nashville on Friday to move up to three games over .500 on the season.
Eliser Hernandez got the start on the mound for the Stripers and while he wasn’t exactly dominant, it was enough to keep Gwinnett in the game long enough for them to battle back-and-forth.
Across 5.2 innings of work, Hernandez managed to work around scattering six hits and issuing three walks on the night while holding Nashville to just two earned runs on his part.
One pitching performance to highlight on the night was Rolddy Munoz who tossed a scoreless outing in his 1.1 innings, while striking out three in the process. Through five appearances this season, Munoz has tossed 7.2 innings while striking out seven, while opponents are batting just .120 against him thus far.
It’s a smaller sample size, but encouraging nonetheless from the 25-year-old as he looks to try and break through into the big league bullpen.
At the dish, Gwinnett got several key contributions en route to the win.
Aaron Schunk continued his hot start to the season as he launched his third homer of the season on Friday — a two-run shot to extend the Gwinnett lead to 4-0 in the third — while raising his OPS on the season to .936 as well.
Tied at 5-5 headed into the bottom of the ninth, Ben Gamel reached on an error before coming around to score eventually on a wild pitch, walking things off for Gwinnett.
In other offensive performances, Jose Azocar laced a double on the night while Jim Jarvis also notched a base hit and scored a run as well in the Stripers’ win.
(3-4) Columbus Clingstones 6, (3-3) Montgomery Biscuits 4
- Cal Conley, 2B: 2 3B, RBI, R
- Ambioris Tavarez, 3B: 2-3, R, BB
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Columbus improved to 3-4 on the young season as the Clingstones rode a solid starting pitching performance and a handful of key offensive contributions in the process.
On the mound, Garrett Baumann managed to work around three earned runs and six hits to produce six innings of work while striking out five and walking two. While it wasn’t his best, it’s a right sight better than Baumann’s first start of the year in which he gave up nine runs (seven earned) in just 3.1 innings of work.
Hopefully it’s just earlt season jitters or something of that nature for Baumann, who is expected to take a significant leap this season.
At the plate, Cal Conley had a bit of a rare night in the sense that he laced not one, but two triples on the night while driving in one of Columbus’ six runs on the night.
In addition to Conley, Ambioris Tavarez continued his solid start to the season at the plate on Friday as well.
Going 2-3 with a run scored and a walk to his credit, Tavarez improved his OPS to 1.071 on the season. While we’ve emphasized that it’s extremely early in the season and a smaller sample size, it’s incredibly encouraging to see Tavarez make significant strides at the plate and show a much more mature approach thus far.
(3-4) Rome Emperors 4, (5-2) Bowling Green Hot Rods 6
- John Gil, SS: 1-4, HR, RBI, R, BB
- Owen Carey, LF: 1-4, 3B, R
- Eric Hartman, CF: 2-5, 2B, HR, RBI, R
- Cam Caminiti, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 K
Rome fell short against Bowling Green on Friday, losing by a 6-4 final despite a handful of key offensive performances from Emperor batters.
Cam Caminiti got the start for Rome and while he didn’t have his best stuff — as he scattered six hits and allowed two earned runs across six innings while striking out six — he managed to keep Rome relatively in the game for the most part.
Caminiti’s biggest issue so far in this early season is that he has been hit around quite a bit. In 9.2 innings, the southpaw has given up nine hits, including a homer, while opponents are batting .250 against him so far. The good news is that he has only issued two walks on the year, so hopefully he’s able to limit the damage in terms of hits and homers and he’ll be able to build off that moving forward.
Offensively, Rome got key performances from the usual suspects as John Gil launched his second homer of the year and Eric Hartman put up a marquee night as he laced a double and a homer to raise his OPS to a team-high 1.037 on the season to this point.
Owen Carey got in on the offensive fun, as he laced a triple in the top of the second and eventually came around to score.
(3-4) Augusta GreenJackets 7, (2-5) Delmarva Shorebirds 3
- Tanner Smith, C: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Connor Essenburg, DH: 1-4, 3B, RBI
- Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4, 2B, R, BB
- Ethan Bagwell, SP: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 5 K
Augusta got one game closer to .500 on the season on Friday as the GreenJackets rode a solid pitching performance from Ethan Bagwell to a win.
Across seven innings of work, Bagwell did scatter seven hits, but managed to limit the damage to just three earned runs on the night while striking out five and walking not one batter. Through two starts, Bagwell has shown excellent command as he has walked just one batter in 13 innings pitched, while striking out 11 and allowing just the three runs.
It will be interesting to see how Atlanta handles Bagwell and his progression, as he will most likely be ready for a promotion to Rome by the end of May if not sooner.
At the plate, Augusta got a surprise performance out of catcher Tanner Smith, who homered and drove in a pair of runs on the night while Connor Essenburg continues to impress as the 2025 draftee tripled and drove home a run in the process for Augusta on Friday.
Alex Lodise also tallied an extra-base hit on the night while scoring a run and walking as well for the GreenJackets.
