Max Muncy blasted a three-run homer and Matt Olson clubbed a solo shot and the Sounds cruised to a 7-3 win over the Round Rock Express Thursday night in game one of the four-game series from Dell Diamond.

Sounds starter Chris Smith picked up his first win pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowed just three runs with only one earned, gave up five hits, and struck out nine falling just one short of tying his career-high 10 strikeouts.

The Sounds wasted no time putting the first run on the board in the top of the first as Chad Pinder sent a sac fly to right to score Joey Wendle, who tripled to center to lead-off the game, and the Sounds led 1-0.

Round Rock responded with a run of their own in the bottom half to tie the game at 1-1-. Round Rock’s left fielder Justin Ruggiano singled to left to score Jared Hoying.

Nashville retook the lead in the top of the second inning when Rangel Ravelo grounded out to second to score Andrew Lambo and the Sounds led 2-1 after two.

Nashville’s bats would come alive in the fifth inning as Muncy put the finishing touches on a four run inning for the Sounds with a three-run home run to deep right field to put the Sounds up 6-1 going into the bottom of the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hoying answered with a two-run home run to cut the Sounds lead in half, 6-3.

Olson then clubbed his third homer of the year in the top of the eighth inning to push the Sounds lead to 7-3.

The Sounds held on to take game one 7-3 as Daniel Coulombe, Tucker Healy, and J.B Wendelken came out of the bullpen to shut down the Round Rock bats as the Express managed just two hits in the final 3 1/3 innings.

The series will continue on Friday with left-hander Eric Surkamp (0-0, 0.00) taking the mound for the Sounds and the Express will send right-hander Nick Tepesch (1-1, 3.63). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Nathaniel Tate

Wednesday night’s baseball game between Tullahoma and Coffee County was moved up from a 6 PM start to 5 PM in an attempt to avoid the threat of rain.  The one storm the Red Raiders did NOT want to see took place in the 6th inning when the visiting Wildcats plated 6 runs to lift them to a 10 to 4 win and a season sweep of Coffee County.

The Raiders took an early lead in the game when Nathaniel Tate singled and ended up scoring on a double steal in the 2nd inning to give the Raiders a 1 to 0 lead.  Tullahoma took their 1st lead of the game with 3 runs in the top of the 3rd inning only to see the Raiders battle back and tie the game in the 4th inning at 4.

This set up a frustrating 6th inning for Coffee County as Tullahoma sent 10 hitters to the plate, scoring 6 runs on 4 hits with a walk and a pair of Red Raider errors adding an assist.  Levi Turner had the big blast as he drilled a 3 run homer to right field to give the Wildcats a lead they would not surrender.  The Raiders got base runners on in the 6th and 7th innings but could not mount a scoring challenge.

Coffee County outhit Tullahoma 9 to 7 but errors, once again proved. costly as the Raiders committed 6 errors in the game leading to 4 unearned runs.  Darrin Keller for the Wildcats pitched a complete game for Tullahoma to earn the win while Davis Green for Coffee County was saddled with the loss.

Tate led the Raiders in hitting as he had a single and a double and scored twice.  For his efforts, Tate was named the Thunder Radio player of the game.  Alan Rob and Zach Wise each added RBI singles for Coffee County.

The Raiders are back at home on Thursday night when they play host to Central Magnet School out of Murfreesboro in the final regular season home game of the year.  First pitch is set for 5:30 PM as the game has been designated as Senior Night.  The class of 2016 seniors will be honored and recognized in a pregame ceremony at Powers Field.  The District 8AAA tournament is set to get underway next week, Thunder Radio will keep you apprised of the Red Raiders schedule.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

The victorious Predators celebrate with goalie Pekka Rinne following Wednesday night’s win over Anaheim[Photo courtesy of the Nashville Predators]

The Preds went into Anaheim on Wednesday night in their first Game Seven in franchise history and beat the Ducks 2-1 to win their Western Conference Round One series 4-3. With the victory, the Preds will face the San Jose Sharks in Round Two, beginning on Friday night in California (9:30 p.m. CT, TV: NBCSN). Nashville will begin to worry about their next opponent soon, but the Game Seven triumph was something worth celebrating first.

“It’s a big step,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette, who is now 5-1 all-time in Game Sevens as a coach, said of the victory. “I feel that if you can’t take this one step, you can’t take any more steps. That makes it a really big win for our guys and for our team. When you’re faced with these situations, you’re either going home or continuing to fight for the Cup. It was a big night.”

Nashville got the ever-important first goal, when Colin Wilson made his way through the Ducks zone and got in alone on Frederik Andersen, where he deked and roofed a backhander past the Anaheim netminder for a 1-0 lead at 6:19. Then, Paul Gaustad got his stick on a Shea Weber point shot and deflected a puck into the cage for his first of the postseason and a 2-0 advantage at 15:53, a score that held steady through the end of the first frame.

A scoreless second period led into an Anaheim goal on the power play early in the third by Ryan Kesler to cut the Nashville lead to one. But from then on, goaltender Pekka Rinne and the Preds continued to deny the Ducks, with Rinne making 14 saves in the third period alone.

“He was really good,” Laviolette said of Rinne. “If you think that you need four wins to get out, and if you think about the four wins, you could consider him one of the best players on the ice. He was outstanding. He looked solid to me. He looked from the start tonight that he was right on top of his game.”

“You try to stay calm when you start thinking about Game Seven before the game,” said Rinne, who was playing in his first Game Seven. “You think about it and get a little bit nervous before the game, so you just try and stay calm. But getting the first couple shots and making good saves, you start feeling it and gaining some confidence.”

The Preds also defended admirably in front of their goaltender, blocking 24 shots on the night, continually sacrificing whatever it took to preserve the lead as the time ticked away.

“Every guy just had to do their job, and it was a big team effort,” forward James Neal said. “It starts with Peks. Peks made big save after big save at the right times, and timely goals; [Wilson] buries a huge one and then [Gaustad] gets a big one from being in front on a great tip. This group of guys, everybody is all in and we’re doing everything to win games. That makes it that much better to win.”

The victory is important not only for the current team, but the franchise as a whole, winning their first Game Seven appearance in club history. Even after losing Games Three, Four and Five to the Ducks, the Preds never lost belief in their locker room of what they were capable of accomplishing. That belief came full circle on Wednesday in Orange County.

“We get a chance to play again, and I think that’s all you can ask for is another chance,” forward James Neal said. “Start Game One in San Jose and work from there, but no guy wanted to be done playing hockey. We had a belief in this room that we could win this series and we did, so it feels really good because no one picked us to win this series. Every guy went out and battled and did it, so it’s great.”

The Sharks are up next for the Preds, another monumental challenge on the California coast. But the experience gained over the last two weeks can only help a team that has no plans on slowing down as the spring continues.

“Everybody is really happy right now, and we wanted it so bad,” defenseman Roman Josi said. “It’s definitely special winning a series in Game Seven. The Ducks are a great team, and it was a really tough series, but we’re just happy right now. We don’t have much time though, we start Round Two on Friday, so we have to enjoy this tonight and get ready tomorrow.”

The series with the Sharks begins on Friday night at 9 PM CT in San Jose. Thunder Radio will bring you coverage of that game on the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network following our coverage of Lady Raider Softball.

The red-hot Dustin Pedroia laced two homers, including a grand slam high off of Pesky’s Pole in right field, to lead the Red Sox to a 9-4 victory over the Braves on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
Red Sox Sox manager John Farrell thinks Pedroia might have even called the landing spot of the slam in mid-sprint.
“I think he might have even been screaming, ‘Pesky’s Pole!’ rounding first base in hopes he’d clip it,” Farrell said.
Steven Wright (2-2, 1.37 ERA) pitched brilliantly, allowing three hits and one earned run over seven innings while striking out eight. The slam by Pedroia — the third in his career — came in the second and made it a 6-1 game. Pedroia has been on fire of late, hitting .441 (15-for-34) with four doubles, a triple and three homers since April 21.
“I’m just trying to have quality at-bats, get a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it, get on base and try to score runs for us,” Pedroia said. “That’s my job, to try to set the table for the big guys behind me. Lately, I’ve been getting on. It’s good.”
Pedroia’s second homer, a solo shot over the Green Monster, was in the eighth and one pitch after A.J. Pierzynski and third baseman Daniel Castro watched a foul pop fall between them.
Braves starter Bud Norris lasted just 1 1/3 innings, getting belted for seven hits and six runs.
“I felt like I was making some good pitches and competing,” Norris said. ” … But that’s all I can do. I was just trying to battle and trying to get outs. They put some good swings on some balls and really damage on some mistakes. So not much I can say. I’m frustrated, and I’ll take ownership.”
Freddie Freeman led a mostly quiet Atlanta offense with two hits, including a solo shot to right that snapped a 15-game homerless streak for the Braves. The Red Sox will try to sweep this split-venue, four-game series on Thursday night.
David Ortiz smashed doubles in his first three at-bats to tie his career high in a single game. His second double had a slice of history. WIth that one swing, Ortiz passed Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx and Ted Wlliams with career extra-base hit No. 1,118 for 17th on the all-time list. Ortiz had a 3-for-5 night with two RBIs.
In his first plate appearance of the night — and his first time facing knuckleballer Wright — Pierzynski singled to left for his 2,000th career hit. He is just the ninth player in history with as many hits while playing primarily as a catcher.
Leading off the eighth inning, Freeman snapped the Braves’ 15-game homerless streak. On a 1-1 89-mph fastball from left-hander Tommy Layne, Freeman sent the pitch into the bleachers behind the Red Sox’s bullpen in right-center. It was Freeman’s second of the season and the team’s fourth. The 15-game streak without a home run was a team record, surpassing the previous drought of 14 games in September 1970. It was also the longest in the Majors since St. Louis went 18 games in ’91. Three home runs in the first 20 games were the fewest for the Braves in that span to start a season since the ’31 team also had three.
“We keep grinding. I feel like a deli, the guy serving at a Publix Deli. You got to take a number and bring guys in and pump them up and talk to them individually and do all the stuff, coach them up and do all that stuff. So, we’ll continue doing that. We got to do that and get out of this funk that we’re in.” — Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, on what he can say to his players during this difficult start to their season
The Braves face the Red Sox for the final time this season on Thursday at 6:10 p.m. CT at Fenway Park. Making his fourth start, right-hander Jhoulys Chacin is looking for his first win of the season. Since going six scoreless innings against the Nationals in his first outing on April 12, he allowed a combined seven runs (six earned) in 11 innings against the Marlins and Mets. He is 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA in his career against the Red Sox. The win came on June 22, 2010, while with the Rockies.