CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Courtesy of Norfolk Tides) — On a record-breaking night, the Norfolk Tides (4-1) put on a dominating offensive display, clubbing eight homers as they defeated the Charlotte Knights (1-4) 26-11 Wednesday at Truist Field.
In the process, the Tides set several team records, including the most runs and hits recorded in a single game as everyone in the lineup got at least one hit.
Heston Kjerstad hit two homers — including an eighth-inning grand slam — and drove in 10 runs while going 5-for-7 at the plate, while Kyle Stowers drove in seven more and hit three homers in a 4-for-7 performance.
Norfolk picked up right where they left off Tuesday night, with Jackson Holliday leading off with a single and later scoring on a double by Kjerstad in the first. Stowers drove him in on a home run to right field giving the Tides an early 3-0 lead.
The Knights were able to respond in the bottom-half when they walked in a run with the bases loaded. Rafael Ortega later knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 3-2 after one inning.
Stowers doubled the Tides lead to 4-2 in the third inning after driving in a run with double down the right field line. But Charlotte came out hot in the bottom-half. They scored five runs in response on five hits and an error to go up 7-4 after three.
The Tides started scoring in large bursts to come back and take the lead. Connor Norby launched a solo home run to score one of two runs in the fourth for the Tides. Charlotte got one of those runs back on a solo home run by Lenyn Sosa to go up 8-6.
But the Tides tied it up on Stowers’ second homer of the night, a two-run shot. David Bañuelos took the lead for the Tides with a two-run shot himself. Then Kjerstad capped the inning with a three-run homer to take the 15-8 lead.
The third home run of the night for Stowers came when he led off the seventh inning. Norfolk would score four more runs that inning to put themselves up 20-8. They scored another five runs in the eighth, including a grand slam by Kjerstad. That totaled 10 RBI for him, setting the single-game franchise record. In the ninth, Peyton Burdick hit the eighth home run of the night for Norfolk to set the team franchise and caps the 26-11 game.
Postgame Notes
Stowers Powers: Besides going 4-for-7 at the plate and hitting a trio of homers, it was his second career three home run game with the Tides (May 22, 2022 at Charlotte)… It’s the 11th three-homer game in franchise history and Stowers is the second to do it twice (Gary Rajsich | April 15 and May 5, 1981)… Stowers also knocked four extra-base hits, bringing his career total to 90 with Norfolk and ties him for fourth-most in Orioles affiliate history with Brendan Snyder.