Crow Spins Gem to Help Sounds Split Twin Bill

NASHVILLE - Nashville split their Thursday doubleheader against the Norfolk Tides with a bounce back 3-1 win in game two after falling 5-2 in the first game. Cooper Pratt collected a hit in both games while Brock Wilken reached base in game one with a walk and provided the Sounds what turned out to be the game-winning runs with his second home run of the season in game two to extend his on-base streak. Robert Gasser and Coleman Crow combined for 12 strikeouts between their two starts as the Sounds racked up 20 strikeouts over the 14 innings of the twin bill.

Game 1: NASHVILLE 2, Norfolk 5

Making his first start of the season at First Horizon Park, Gasser struck out the side in the top of the first inning, helping to leave a two-out single stranded at first base. A leadoff walk issued by the left-hander came around to score to give Norfolk a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the second after the Tides strung together consecutive one-out singles. Gasser responded with his fifth strikeout of his outing before getting out of the inning with a pop up in foul territory hauled in by his battery mate, Jeferson Quero.

Luis Lara reached with the help of a throwing error by Norfolk shortstop Jose Barrero before Jett Williams was hit by a pitch. Both advanced into scoring position with a balk called on Levi Wells and Pratt took advantage of the scoring chance and tied things up with a sac fly. Eddys Leonard jumped on the first he saw of his at-bat to score Williams from third and take a 2-1 Nashville lead.

Peter Strzelecki cleaned up the top of the third inning to leave two Tides runners stranded after Gasser allowed a single and issued his second walk of his start. Strzelecki threw just five pitches and struck out the only batter he was tasked to face. Andrew Vaughn collected the first extra-base hit of his rehab assignment with a leadoff double in the bottom of the third but was left stranded. Norfolk took advantage of two walks issued by Tate Kuehner in his first inning of work to push across the tying run with a RBI single for Jud Fabian that scored Bryan Ramos.

Vaughn cruises into second with the first XBH of his rehab assignment pic.twitter.com/2nDJxZTDdl

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) April 30, 2026

Wells faced the minimum in the bottom of the fourth despite Leonard adding his second hit of the game as he was caught stealing second after his one-out single. Two more walks allowed by Kuehner in the top of the fifth helped push the go-ahead run across the plate for Norfolk with a RBI double for Silas Ardoin. Pratt cut down a runner at the plate on a fielder's choice and Kuehner picked up his first strikeout to limit the damage to just one run and strand two in the inning. Vaughn reached for the second time with a one-out walk but was followed by a strikeout and groundout for Wells to keep it a 3-2 Norfolk lead after the bottom of the fifth. Kuehner made quick work of the Tides in the top of the sixth with a pair of strikeouts to send the Sounds back to work at the plate chasing a run.

Wells exited after five strong innings where he allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and worked around three walks with four strikeouts. Hans Crouse took over on the mound in his Norfolk debut after being activated from the injured list and a rehab assignment with High-A Frederick on Tuesday. Pratt legged out an infield single with two outs and Leonard put a charge into a ball, but it was hauled in at the warning track as Nashville was held scoreless for the fourth straight inning. The Tides pieced together back-to-back two-out RBI singles as part of a four-hit inning against Kuehner to grow the lead to 5-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Jackson Chourio beat out an infield single for his first hit of his rehab assignment but was the only hit for Nashville in the final frame in the game one loss.

Game 2: NASHVILLE 3, Norfolk 1

Crow started game two with a strikeout of Jud Fabian as part of a productive 1-2-3 top of the first. Early baserunners for Nashville ensued in the bottom half of the inning with Pratt drawing a leadoff walk and Lara hitting a single through the right side of the Tides infield. Back-to-back strikeouts and a sliding catch in the right-center field gap to rob Williams of a hit and at least one RBI kept things all square after the first. Crow made it six straight retired to start the ballgame with a 10-pitch top of the second. The Brewers no. 26-rated prospect saw consecutive Norfolk batters reach with one-out in the top of the third but added his third and fourth strikeouts of the night to leave both stranded and get through his third scoreless inning.

Pratt drew another walk to start the bottom of the third but was caught stealing for the first time this season. Quero drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive and sent Wilken to the plate. The Brewers no. 21-rated prospect clubbed his second home run of the season and extended his on-base streak to a team-high 19 straight games and gave Nashville a 2-0 lead. Williams kept things rolling with a double and Ramon Rodriguez extended the lead with a RBI single to make it 3-0 on the third hit of the inning.

Crow added his fifth strikeout and eventually picked off the two-out walk he allowed to get through four scoreless. Two strikeouts and a 15-pitch top of the fifth for Crow had him through five innings having faced just two over the minimum. After a three-up, three-down bottom of the fifth, Crow retired the first two in the top of the sixth before Rick Sweet came to get him from the bump after 77 pitches. He finished with seven strikeouts, one hit allowed, and two walks over 5.2 IP before Criag Yoho took over. The Brewers' no. 28-rated prospect needed five pitches to strikeout Jonathan Rodriguez.

CROWback Thursday was a real delight.

5.2 IP
1 H
2 BB
7 K pic.twitter.com/72C1zQ4i6D

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) May 1, 2026

Norfolk turned to position player Willy Vasquez in the bottom of the sixth in their bullpen game. Ethan Murray and Jordyn Adams added one-out singles while Jacob Hurtubise drew a walk to load the bases. A 5-4-3 double play kept the Sounds from extending their lead and sent Drew Rom to the mound for his second save opportunity of the season. The southpaw struck out Christian Encarnacion-Strand before allowing a one-out single and putting Barrero aboard via a walk. Both runners advanced on a two-out, two-strike wild pitch with the potential tying run at the plate. Ramos ended the Sounds shutout bid with an infield RBI single but Rom got Ardoin to lineout to Lara in center field and secure the split.

Nashville and Norfolk will resume their series on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm. Right-hander Quinn Priester is slated to make his First Horizon Park debut in his third rehab start with the Sounds.

POSTGAME NOTES:

THROW-BROCK THURSDAY: Infielder Brock Wilken extended his on-base streak to 19 consecutive games by reaching base in both games of Thursday night's doubleheader. His 19-game on -base streak leads all Sounds hitters this season and is the fourth-longest active on-base streak in the International league. Wilken passed his career-high on-base streak of 18 consecutive games which he had with Double-A Biloxi last season from April 6-26. The Brewers no. 21-ranked prospect is tied for the third-longest on-base streak for a Nashville player over the last two seasons. Jimmy Herron posted a 19-game streak from May 10-June 4 last year, and Daz Cameron recorded the most recent Nashville on-base streak of 19+ games when he did it from July 10-August 7.

WILK POWER: Infielder Brock Wilken clubbed his second Triple-A homer of the season to left field with a two-run shot that gave the Sounds their 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning in game two of Thursday night's doubleheader. It marked his first career homer at First Horizon Park and his first go-ahead homer of the year. Nine of Nashville's 24 total home runs on the season have given the Sounds the lead. He is tied with Jeferson Quero for the team lead with 17 RBI on the year and continues to hit the ball hard. Nine of his 16 total hits on the season have gone for extra bases.

#BROCKET no. ✌️ on the year.

🚀🚀 pic.twitter.com/j0U0JxkuCg

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) May 1, 2026

MULTI-HIT FIRE: Outfielder Eddys Leonard tacked on his ninth multi-hit game of the season as he went 2-for-3 in the first game of Thursday night's doubleheader. The nine multi-hit games rank second on the team just behind Luis Lara (10). Leonard was the only Nashville player to record a multi-hit game between the two games on Thursday night. Leonard has his nine-game hitting streak snapped in Sunday's series finale against Charlotte but now has a hit in 15 of his last 17 games played dating back to April 9. Over the stretch, Leonard is hitting .361 (22-for-61) with five home runs, three doubles, and 14 RBI. He leads the Sounds with 12 total XBH on the season, two clear of Luis Lara.

FULL TANK: Left-hander Robert Gasser struck out five Tides' batters in the first game of Thursday night's doubleheader. Gasser made his first start at First Horizon Park since September 13, 2025, against the Gwinnett Stripers and worked 2.2 frames, allowed a run on four hits and fanned five in the process. The Brewers no. 16-rated prospect has thrived against the Tides this season having made two of his four starts this year against the Orioles Triple-A farm club. After tying his career-high with 11 strikeouts against the Tides on Opening Night in late March, Gasser has 16 strikeouts over 8.1 IP versus Norfolk in two appearances and 55 total across nine games and 39.0 IP against the Tides in his Triple-A career.

Highlights from Gasser's season debut at FHP?
We've got those.

The @Brewers no. 16-rated prospect has struck out 16 Norfolk batters over 8.1 IP and two appearances this season. pic.twitter.com/iFY6GKVsh5

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) May 1, 2026

CROW-DOWN: Right-hander Coleman Crow earned his third win of the season in game two of Thursday night's doubleheader as he posted 5.2 scoreless innings on one hit, two walks and added seven strikeouts in the process. Crow's three wins are tied for the team lead along with Easton McGee through 30 games this season. The one-hit allowed was the fewest he has allowed in his Triple-A career and just the fourth time in his professional career when going 5+ innings. The last time he allowed one or fewer hits over 5+ IP came on June 7th of last year with Double-A Biloxi. Thursday night's scoreless appearance was the eighth of his professional career when going at least 5.0 IP.