Azocar’s walk-off single lifts Stripers past Sounds in 10 innings

Jose Azocar turned a tense extra-inning game into another late-night finish for Gwinnett, lining a one-out single past the drawn-in infield in the 10th to lift the Stripers past Nashville 4-3 on April 11. It was Gwinnett’s second straight walk-off over the Sounds, and it pushed the Stripers to 9-5, a record built less on blowouts than on a habit of surviving the last few innings and finishing them.

That is the question hanging over this early run: is Gwinnett simply getting bounce-back luck in close games, or is it showing a repeatable edge when the game tightens? The Stripers have now won both of their walk-off decisions and are 3-1 in games decided in the last at-bat. They also clinched the series at 4-1 with one game left, a reminder that the margin between a decent start and a standout one can be measured in a single swing from a bench bat or a one-run hold from the bullpen.

Nashville struck first on an RBI single by Luis Lara, and the Sounds kept answering long enough to force Gwinnett into uncomfortable innings. The Stripers built a 3-0 lead of their own, but Nashville chipped away and drew even at 3-3 when Rowdy Tellez delivered an RBI double in the eighth. From there, Ian Hamilton kept the game tied in extras until Gwinnett finally found the opening it had been creating all night. Azocar’s hit sent Brewer Hicklen home and sent the Stripers into another walk-off celebration.

The result also deepened Gwinnett’s case as a roster with actual big-league relevance, not just Triple-A momentum. Lucas Braun gave the Stripers 5.0 innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs with one walk and five strikeouts, enough to keep the game within reach after Nashville had already gotten three-hit performances from Luis Lara and Ramon Rodriguez. Jim Jarvis extended his season-long on-base streak to 14 games, another sign that Gwinnett has multiple bats refusing to go quiet. On the Nashville side, Tate Kuehner logged his first career Triple-A quality start, but it still ended in another walk-off loss.

The Stripers did not just beat Nashville once. They beat the Sounds twice in dramatic fashion, including a 6-5 win on April 10 when Ben Gamel scored after Nashville committed its sixth error. With Sean Murphy also scheduled to begin an injury rehab assignment with Gwinnett on April 10, the club’s early depth chart suddenly looks more relevant to Atlanta than a routine Triple-A April.