LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – The Charlotte Knights edged the Gwinnett Stripers on Sunday afternoon 3-2 thanks to another brilliant pitching performance and an eighth inning go-ahead RBI single by Rikuu Nishida.
The victory clinched the series for Charlotte, four-games-to-two, in which all four of the Knights’ wins came by exactly one run.
Gwinnett netted both of their tallies early in the contest, one in the second and one in the third. Jonathan Cannon and the bullpen combination of Tyler Gilbert, Zach Franklin, and Chris Murphy made sure no one else from Gwinnett crossed the plate the rest of the way.
Charlotte began chipping away in the fourth. Mario Camilletti’s RBI single into right field cut the deficit to one, then LaMonte Wade Jr.’s sacrifice fly in the fifth leveled the ballgame 2-2. In the eighth, Nishida’s head-first dive into first base secured an RBI infield single that drove in Dustin Harris from third.
Nishida finished 2-for-4 with a walk. Camilletti, Harris, and Jacob Gonzalez also delivered a pair of hits to the Charlotte offensive attack.
Next up is a six-game homestand at Truist Field against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Game one is set for Tuesday evening at 6:35pm ET.