ROME, Ga. (May 14, 2026) — RHP Channing Austin continued his dominant stretch on Thursday night, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings to lead the Brooklyn Cyclones to a 7-0 victory over the Rome Emperors at AdventHealth Stadium.
Austin (1-1) earned his first win of the season after allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out five. The Prospect Lefferts Gardens native teamed with LHP Gregori Louis, RHP Juan Arnaud, and RHP Hunter Hodges to combine on a three-hit shutout for Brooklyn (9-26).
After issuing a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, Brooklyn’s pitching staff retired the final 15 Rome batters in order. The Emperors (20-16) did not record a hit from one out in the third inning on.
In total, Cyclones pitchers struck out 12 batters in the club’s second shutout victory of the season. Brooklyn’s previous shutout came on May 2 against Frederick, a 2-0 one-hit performance, also started by Austin.
Scoreless through two, the Cyclones broke through in the third. CF Sam Biller laced a leadoff double to right field and advanced to third on a groundout. SS Mitch Voit followed with a soft ground ball to third base, but the only play was at first, allowing Biller to score and give Brooklyn a 1-0 lead.
The Cyclones added another run in the fourth with a two-out rally. C Daiverson Gutiérrez singled to left and moved to second on an errant pickoff throw before 2B Colin Houck drilled an RBI double off the center-field wall to extend the advantage to 2-0.
Brooklyn continued to build the lead in the fifth. RF Yohairo Cuevas drew a leadoff walk and stole second before Voit worked a walk of his own. 3B Yonatan Henríquez then lined an RBI single into shallow right-center field, scoring Cuevas to make it 3-0.
The Cyclones broke the game open in the sixth without recording a hit. Brooklyn loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter before Cuevas and Henríquez each drew RBI walks, stretching the lead to 5-0.
Brooklyn added two more runs in the seventh to put the game away. DH Ronald Hernandez opened the inning with a scalded single to right and stole second before catcher’s interference and a fielding error at third loaded the bases. 1B Trace Willhoite followed with an RBI groundout to second, and Biller added a sacrifice fly to left, capping the scoring at 7-0.
Brooklyn’s offense drew a season-high 10 walks and matched a season best with five stolen bases. The Cyclones had not drawn 10 walks in a game since collecting 11 on August 10, 2025, at Hudson Valley.
The Cyclones will look to secure back-to-back wins in Friday night’s fourth game of the series. Brooklyn is expected to send RHP Noah Hall (0-3, 5.70 ERA) to the mound, while Rome is slated to counter with Atlanta Braves No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, LHP Cam Caminiti (1-1, 5.34 ERA). First pitch from AdventHealth Stadium is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET.