Sounds' Offense Explodes in Rout of Charlotte in Opener

NASHVILLE –The Nashville Sounds (23-23) scored in each of the first six innings and defeated the Charlotte Knights (19-26), 10-3 in the series opener on Tuesday night at First Horizon Park.

Brewer Hicklen hit his 99^th career minor league home run in the first inning and added an RBI triple in the third. Wes Clarke blasted a home run in his First Horizon Park debut which was his second in a Sounds uniform.

With the Sounds and Knights knotted at two after two innings, Nashville scored two runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

Clarke had a sacrifice fly and Hicklen tripled which gave the Sounds a 4-2 lead in the third inning. A two-out, two-RBI single by Isaac Collins in the fourth inning gave Nashville some breathing room. With another Sounds run scoring on an error, Oliver Dunn ripped a single to right-center to further Nashville’s advantage to 8-2 in the fifth. Clarke’s blast in the sixth inning capped off the Nashville scoring and furthered the advantage to 10-2.

Nick Bennett settled down after allowing a run in each of the first two innings. His final line was four innings, four hits, two earned runs and three strikeouts. He has nine appearances (five starts) for Nashville this season.

The middle of the Sounds pen was excellent with James Meeker (1.0 IP), Kevin Herget (2.0 IP) and Rob Zastryzny (1.0 IP) posting scoreless outings. The unit combined allowed only two baserunners while striking out five. Abner Uribe capped off the victory with one earned run allowed and two strikeouts.

The Sounds and the Knights play game two of the six-game series tomorrow night. Nashville will send right-hander Chad Patrick (2-1, 3.19) to the bump up against right-hander Chad Kuhl (1-1, 4.70) in the battle of Chads. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at First Horizon Park on Tuesday.

Post-Game Notes

• Brewer Hicklen launched his ninth home run of the season and his 99^th in his minor league career. Hicklen leads Nashville in home runs (9), total bases (81), and RBI (30).
• Oliver Dunn had his first three-hit game with the Sounds. It tied his career high which he has accomplished 12 times with the last occurring on August 2, 2023 at Hartford while playing for Double-A Reading.
• Isaac Collins had his second three-RBI game of the season and Wes Clarke had his first three-RBI game in Triple-A. It was Clarke’s second home run for Nashville and first at First Horizon Park.
• Nick Bennett set his Triple-A single-game high in strikeouts with three. This season for Nashville, Bennett is 1-3, with a 5.11 ERA (24.2 IP/14 ER).
• Tyler Black was 1-for-2 with a walk and two hit-by-pitches. It was the first time a Nashville player was hit-by-pitches twice in a game since Patrick Dorrian on September 7, 2023 versus Memphis.

The Nashville Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and play at First Horizon Park. Single-game tickets and season ticket memberships for the remainder of the 2024 season are on sale now. For more information call 615-690-4487 or e-mail [email protected].