Stripers’ Strong Pitching Spoils Norfolk’s Home Opener

Soroka, Swarmer, Winans combine to scatter four hits as Gwinnett wins 6-1

Michael Soroka threw 61 pitches (37 strikes) over 3.2 one-run innings in his first start of the year on Tuesday night. (Bernie Connelly)

By Dave Lezotte (@davelezotte)

April 4, 2023

NORFOLK, Va. – Michael Soroka, Matt Swarmer, and Allan Winans combined to hold the Norfolk Tides (3-1) to one run on four hits while striking out 14 as the Gwinnett Stripers (2-2) won 6-1 on Tuesday night at Harbor Park. Six different Stripers batters each tallied one RBI in the

NORFOLK, Va. – Michael Soroka, Matt Swarmer, and Allan Winans combined to hold the Norfolk Tides (3-1) to one run on four hits while striking out 14 as the Gwinnett Stripers (2-2) won 6-1 on Tuesday night at Harbor Park. Six different Stripers batters each tallied one RBI in the win.

Decisive Plays: Eli White led off the game with a solo home run (3) off Tides’ starter DL Hall (L, 0-1) to give Gwinnett a 1-0 lead. After Ryan O’Hearn’s solo homer (2) off Soroka tied it at 1-1 in the second, the Stripers scored the final five runs of the game. Braden Shewmake’s RBI single in the third plated the decisive run, and Vaughn Grissom and Hoy Park both tallied RBI singles. Joshua Fuentes and Forrest Wall each added an RBI fielder’s choice.

Key Contributors: Soroka threw 61 pitches (37 strikes) over 3.2 innings, holding Norfolk to one run on four hits while striking out three in his season debut. Swarmer (W, 1-1) added 1.1 hitless innings and two strikeouts, and Winans (S, 1) was dominant the rest of the way with nine strikeouts over 4.0 perfect innings. Wall (2-for-4, RBI) and Grissom (3-for-4, double, RBI) each had multi-hit efforts.

Noteworthy: Gwinnett is now 5-9 all-time in road openers, including 3-1 in road openers at Norfolk. White has blasted leadoff homers in each of the last two games, having also gone deep on Sunday vs. Jacksonville. Grissom is now batting .500 (8-for-16) with five extra-base hits, four RBIs, and a 1.682 OPS in his first four Triple-A games. Winans’ save is the first of his Triple-A career.

Next Game (Wednesday, April 5): Gwinnett at Norfolk, 6:35 p.m. at Harbor Park. TBD for the Stripers vs. LHP Drew Rom (NR) for the Tides. Radio Broadcast: 6:20 p.m. on MyCountry993.com.

Next Home Game (Tuesday, April 11): Gwinnett vs. Memphis, 11:05 a.m. Radio Broadcast: 10:50 a.m. on MyCountry993.com. The Stripers will welcome area students for Education Day at Coolray Field.