Buffalo Bats Erupt, Sending Stripers to 9-2 Loss

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.. – Joe Dunand launched Gwinnett’s longest home run of 2023 on Friday night at Coolray Field, but the Buffalo Bisons (10-14), a team that entered the night last in the International League with only eight homers, sent three out of the yard to power a 9-2 win over the Stripers (9-15).

Decisive Plays: Buffalo broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third on an RBI double from Tanner Morris, and erupted for five more runs in the frame, highlighted by a three-run homer from Davis Schneider (2). Joe Hudson doubled and scored on a Bisons error in the fourth to trim the deficit to 6-1. Cam Eden (1) and Morris (1) blasted back-to-back homers in the sixth inning to inflate the lead to 9-1. Dunand smashed a solo shot (2) in the seventh for his second home run of the past two games, but the Stripers would get no closer as Buffalo won 9-2 and evened the series.

Key Contributors: Morris (3-for-5, double, homer, 2 RBIs) fell a triple shy of the cycle and Ernie Clement (2-for-4, RBI), Schneider (2-for-4, homer, 3 RBI), and Eden (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) finished with multi-hit nights for the Bisons. For Gwinnett, Dunand (2-for-4) posted his second consecutive night with a home run and had the Stripers’ only multi-hit game.

Noteworthy: The solo home run from Dunand traveled 430 feet, surpassing the previous longest homer of the season produced by Justin Dean (427 feet, 4/2 vs. JAX). Forrest Wall took over the longest hit streak of the season from Vaughn Grissom, hitting safely for his ninth consecutive contest with a single in the seventh inning. Nick Margevivcius threw 3.2 innings in relief, his longest outing out bullpen since 2021 (4/6/21, Seattle vs. Chicago White Sox).

Next Game (April 29th): Gwinnett vs. Buffalo, 6:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. Radio Broadcast: 5:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com and the Bally Live app. LHP Jared Shuster (0-0, 1.00 ERA) for the Stripers vs. RHP Luke Bard (0-0, 4.09 ERA) for the Bisons. The Stripers will transform into the Xolos de Gwinnett for the first time this season in the spirit of MiLB’s Copa de la Diversion and will give away collectible Sugar Skull Bobbleheads for the first 1,000 fans.