Nashville, TN – Nashville Sounds’ Nolan Fontana and Chase d’Arnaud teamed up for a late run to help beat Omaha Storm Chasers 5-4 Monday night at First Tennessee Park.
With the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Fontana singled to left-center with one out. It was the third hit of the night for the Nashville second baseman who belted his first homer of the season in the second inning.
Moments later, d’Arnaud rifled a bouncing ball over the head of Omaha third baseman Humberto Arteaga and into the left field corner. It scored Fontana from first base to give the Sounds a 5-4 lead.
Nashville reliever David Carpenter took over in the top of the ninth and worked around a two-out single to notch is second save of the year.
It was a back-and-forth game between the two division rivals in the homestand opener. Omaha led 1-0 before Fontana’s long ball to right-center evened the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second.
The Storm Chasers regained the lead at 2-1 in the top of the third only to see the Sounds score a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 3-2 lead. Patrick Wisdom’s RBI double tied it and Jose Trevino’s sacrifice fly gave Nashville a 3-2 lead.
Richelson Pena gave the Sounds five much-needed innings on the mound after Sunday’s doubleheader in Iowa. Pena got a no-decision but limited Omaha to two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five.
Fontana was at it again in the sixth with a base hit to start a rally. Carlos Tocci delivered a clutch two-out, run-scoring single to give Nashville a 4-2 lead.
Omaha made it a game with two runs in the seventh before Nashville took the lead for good in the eighth.
Post-Game Notes
With tonight’s 5-4 win, the Sounds improved to 8-16 on the season.
Eli White extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the first inning. It matches his career-long hitting streak set with Shortseason Vermont in 2016. White finished the night 2-for-3 and is hitting a team-best .289.
Nolan Fontana hit his first home run of the season – a solo blast to right-center in the second. Fontana went 3-for-3 with a walk and raised his average from .109 to .155.
Jeffrey Springs made his Nashville Sounds debut and tossed a 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning.
Next Up For Nashville Sounds
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Tuesday night, April 30th at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Phillips Valdez (0-2, 3.38) will start for Nashville against left-hander Foster Griffin (1-1, 4.43) for Omaha. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm
The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling 615.690.4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com
