LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Connor Wietgrefe tossed 6.0 hitless innings and Nick Cimillo capped the scoring with a grand slam as the Indianapolis Indians defeated the Gwinnett Stripers, 15-0, on Thursday night at Gwinnett Field. Cimillo, Mitch Jebb and Enmanuel Valdez each logged three-hit performances.
Jhostynxon Garcia started off with an exclamation point in the first inning with a 412-foot three-run home run for a 3-0 Indianapolis (43-29, 74-73) lead. An RBI double from Valdez in the third frame extended it to 4-0 and Duce Gourson had a run-scoring knock in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage. Mike Jarvis made it 6-0 with a double in the fifth and Tyler Callihan followed him with a two-run homer for the seventh and eighth runs in the contest.
A seven-run sixth inning put away Gwinnett (36-36, 74-72). Gourson drew a one-out walk as the next five batters would reach base, capped by Cimillo’s slam.
Wietgrefe (W, 6-5) shined, striking out seven before giving way to CD Pelham (2.0ip) and Derek Diamond (1.0ip) to conclude the game. Drue Hackenberg (L, 2-3) allowed the first eight Indy runs across 5.0 frames and Ricky Vanasco gave up the remaining seven, pitching just 0.1 innings.
The six-game series between Indianapolis and Gwinnett continues on Friday night at 7:05 PM ET. LHP Nick Dombkowski (5-5, 6.04) is set to take the mound for Indy with RHP Cedric De Grandpre (1-3, 4.03) scheduled to start for the Stripers.