Tides Win to Even Series, Force Game Three

NORFOLK, Va --- The Norfolk Tides (1-1) defeated the Durham Bulls (1-1), 7-2, on Wednesday night at Harbor Park. Stellar outings from the Norfolk arms keep the Durham bats at bay while the Tides put together a strong day at the plate to even the series

The scoring kicked off with a bang in the second inning tonight as Coby Mayo hit a high fly ball to right field in the second inning and watched it carry over the fence for a solo home run that put Norfolk in the lead.

Following immediately after with a solo shot of his own was Kyle Stowers who smashed one to center field on an 0-2 fastball. The back-to-back jacks gave Norfolk a 2-0 advantage over Durham by the end of the second frame.

In the fifth, Joey Ortiz came through with an RBI single to bring two runs across, extending the Norfolk lead to four. The Tides scratched two runs on wild pitches in the following frame to take a 6-0 lead.

The Tides continued to pile on in the seventh as Ortiz roped an RBI double, but Logan Driscoll responded with a solo home run in the eighth to get the Bulls on the board. They would scratch another on a fielding error, but the Tides lead would hold as Joey Krehbiel shut things down in the ninth to secure the 7-2 victory, evening the series at one game apiece.

Norfolk forces a game three tomorrow night in which the winner will advance to the Triple-A Championship. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. and neither team has announced a probable starter.

POSTGAME NOTES

Stowers Powers: Finishing the night only a single shy of the cycle was Kyle Stowers who went 3-for-3 with a run, an RBI and a walk...he had 13 multi-hit games in the regular season and one three-hit performance...he ended the season hot at the plate, batting .303 (10-for-33) with four runs, three doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and three walks while slashing .361/.667/1.028 in the month of September.

Like Jordan ‘96, ‘97: In the second inning tonight, Kyle Stowers and Coby Mayo belted back-to-back home runs...the Tides had three instances this season where they smashed back-to-back jacks with the most recent occurrence dating back to June 10 in game two of a doubleheader against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with homers from Robbie Glendinning and Ben DeLuzio.

JoJo’s Mojo: Turning in a multi-hit performance tonight was Joey Ortiz who went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI and a walk...it was his first game since September 2...he had 32 multi-hit efforts during the regular season in Norfolk.