While the weather complicated things on Friday by getting in the way of half the minor league games, there was still some solid action to dive into. Let’s get into it.
(27-22) Gwinnett Stripers 3, (25-24) Charlotte Knights 4
- Brett Wisely, 2B: 2-4, 2 RBI
- Brewer Hicklen, RF: 2-4, RBI, R
- Connor Thomas, SP: 4 IP, H, BB, 4 K
Gwinnett took this one into extra innings but failed to come away with a victory as the Stripers fell by a 4-3 final against Charlotte.
Connor Thomas got the start on the mound for Gwinnett and managed to keep the Knights at bay as he held them scoreless across four innings. Thomas surrendered one hit and issued one walk while
striking out four in the process.
The main issue for the Stripers came when Anderson Pillar — who has otherwise been absolutely dominant thus far — came on in relief and gave up two runs in 2.2 innings of work. Regardless, Pillar has been so excellent that it only raised his season ERA to 1.93 thus far.
Trailing 2-0, Gwinnett finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as Brewer Hicklen singled home Luke Williams to cut the deficit in half.
Charlotte extended their lead to 3-1 in the top of the eighth before Gwinnett rallied to tie the game in the home half.
Williams drew a two-out walk and proceeded to steal second base before Brewer Hicklen also walked to put a pair of Stripers on base. Then, by some miracle, a Brett Wisely pop up managed to find the grass in the shallow portion of the outfield to plate both Williams and Hicklen to tie the game at 3-3 in the late going.
Neither team scored in the ninth to send this one to extras.
In the top of the 10th, Charlotte managed to take the lead without tallying a single base hit to give them a 4-3 lead. In the home half, the Stripers managed to load the bases, but Hicklen grounded one into the dirt in front of home plate as the Knights turned a 1-3 double play to end the game.
(21-21) Columbus Clingstones 6, (21-22) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 5
- Archer Brookman, C: 1-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB
- Patrick Clohisy, LF: 1-4, 2B, RBI, R, BB
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
After what could best be categorized as a worst-case scenario to begin his 2026 campaign, Garrett Baumann put up his second straight solid outing to show that he potentially may be back on track as Columbus mounted a late rally to take this one.
Prior to his start on May 16 in which he tossed seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts, Baumann had pitched to a 7.26 ERA through seven starts. Baumann continued his upward trend on Friday by tossing five innings of three earned run ball. He did scatter nine hits and issue three walks, but he also struck out eight in the process as well.
With his performance Friday, Baumann lowered his season ERA to 5.86 as he looks to continue to improve upon his poor beginning.
Back to Friday’s action, the Clingstones had to battle back from an early 3-0 deficit in this one, but managed to finally jump on the board in the top of the fourth after Lizandro Espinoza scored on a Luke Waddell groundout to make it a 3-1 hole.
While Pensacola got that run back in the home half, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. brought Ambioris Tavarez home on an RBI-groundout to make it 4-2 Blue Wahoos.
Trailing 5-2, the Clingstones managed to save most of their runs for the final two frames in this one.
In the top of the eighth, catcher Archer Brookman came through by singling home both David McCabe and Luke Waddell to cut the deficit to 5-4. Then, in the top of the ninth, Patrick Clohisy doubled home Tavarez to tie the game at 5-5. Clohisy’s double — which was his ninth of the season — was Columbus’ lone extra base hit on Friday.
With one out in the ninth, Clohisy scampered home thanks to an Espinoza single into left field to give Columbus the 6-5 lead.
After taking the lead, Luis Vargas was called upon to shut the door and did so in prompt fashion, sitting Pensacola down in order to seal off the Clingstones’ win.
(23-19) Rome Emperors, (23-18) Hub City Spartanburgers (POSTPONED)
Mother Nature got in the way of this one, as Rome’s game with Hub City was rained out.
(24-18) Augusta GreenJackets 0, (18-24) Columbia Fireflies 0 (SUSPENDED)
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 1-1, 3B
- Ethan Bagwell, SP: 2 IP, H, 3 K
This one got suspended in the third inning due to rain, so it will be made up at a later date.
Prior to the game getting suspended, Ethan Bagwell — who got the start on Friday — tossed a pair of scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out three in the process.
Luis Guanipa had the lone hit for the GreenJackets in the three frames, a two-out triple into centerfield. It was Guanipa’s third triple of the season thus far.
