Kavadas Powers Bees with Two Homers in 11-6 Win over Aviators
PCL Salt Lake Bees

Kavadas Powers Bees with Two Homers in 11-6 Win over Aviators

Published on September 18, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


LAS VEGAS - The Salt Lake Bees snapped a seven-game skid at Las Vegas Ballpark with an 11-6 win on Wednesday night as Niko Kavadas went twice with six different Bees supplying multi-hit efforts while Dakota Hudson held the Aviators to one run in his eighth quality start of the year.

Salt Lake Bees 11, Las Vegas Aviators 6

WP: Dakota Hudson (8 - 7)

LP: Aaron Brooks (3 - 6)

Game Summary

Salt Lake wasted no time asserting themselves in the first inning as Nolan Schanuel singled to begin his rehab assignment, followed by a double from Ben Gamel that put runners on second and third. Chad Stevens groundout brought Schanuel home, and Niko Kavadas crushed a two-run homer down the left-field line on the very first pitch he saw, giving the Bees a 3-0 advantage.

The Bees continued their offense in the third inning when Schanuel scored on a Chad Stevens single, extending the lead to 4-0. Salt Lake broke the game open in the fifth inning, scoring four more runs. Schanuel doubled, Ben Gamel walked, and Stevens singled to drive in Schanue for his third RBI of the night. Kavadas then delivered a three-run homer, his second of the game, giving the Bees an 8-0 lead.

Ben Gamel gave the Bees their third home run of the night on his seventh of the year with a solo shot in the seventh extending the advantage to 9-0. The Aviators finally got on the board in the bottom half, as Cooper Bowman scored on a sacrifice fly from Junior Perez, making it 9-1.

Las Vegas mounted a serious threat in the eighth inning, clawing its way back scoring five runs on six hits. Four consecutive knocks got the rally started including four doubles in the inning, three of which brought in runs including a pair of two-run doubles by Junior Perez and Alejo Lopez to trim the deficit to 9-6.

Salt Lake added insurance in the ninth with back-to-back walks to Gamel and Stevens to lead off the inning. Matthew Lugo doubled to left center, bringing in the Bees 10th run of the contest before Stevens came home to score on a wild pitch that increased the advantage to five.

Sam Bachman nailed down the win in the ninth, starting with a strikeout before allowing the lone Las Vegas baserunner of the inning on a walk. He quickly shut the door with a flyout and groundout to secure Salt Lake's 11-6 victory in game two.

Game Notes

Salt Lake secured its first win in Las Vegas this season snapping an 0-7 skid at Las Vegas Ballpark to even up the series in game two.

The Bees hit three home runs and tallied 11 runs on 15 hits on Wednesday night, all being the most since August 7, also coming against Las Vegas at The Ballpark at America First Square (15 R, 16 H, 5 HR).

Dakota Hudson delivered Salt Lake's second straight quality start, extending the Bees Triple-A leading total to 35 this season. It was Hudson's eighth quality start of the year, moving him past Victor Mederos for the team lead and marking the most for Hudson since logging 11 with Memphis in 2018. The right-hander worked seven innings for the second time in his last three outings, allowing just one run on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. It was his fewest runs allowed since August 1, when he held Oklahoma City without an earned run, and his first without surrendering a home run since that date. Hudson also became the team-leader in wins with his eighth of the year, posting back-to-back victories on the mound for the first time this season.

Niko Kavadas became the sixth Bee this season to record a multi-homer game, joining J.D. Davis (5/21 vs. OMA), Ben Gamel (6/15 at LV), Scott Kingery (8/7 vs. LV), Chad Wallach (6/24 at RNO), and Tucker Flint (5/24 vs. OMA, 6/26 at RNO). Kavadas tied his season high with five RBI--matching his total from April 8 in the home opener--and became the fourth Salt Lake hitter this year with a five-RBI game. Kavadas now has 25 home runs on the season, leaving him one shy of his professional career high set in 2022. He is also one of just three players in the Pacific Coast League with at least 25 homers and 80 RBI, joining Ryan Ward (Oklahoma City) and Luis Campusano (El Paso), while tying Campusano for second in home runs behind Ward's league-leading 34.

Nolan Schanuel shined in first rehab appearance, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored while adding one of Salt Lake's five doubles. He became the 11th Bee this season to record a game with at least three hits and three runs, joining Denzer Guzman (who has done it twice), and is the sixth to accomplish the feat while also collecting a double.

Ben Gamel continued his hot stretch at the plate, blasting his seventh home run of the season and his third against Las Vegas while going deep in three of his last five games. He crossed the plate four times, marking just the second time in his Triple-A career he has scored four or more runs in a game, one shy of his career high of five set on August 28, 2019, with the San Antonio Missions.

Nelson Rada extended his hitting streak to 11 games and pushed his on-base streak to 22, the second longest by a Bee this season behind Carter Kieboom's 23-game run from August 6-September 6. Over his current hit streak, Rada is batting .370 (17x46) with three doubles, a triple, seven runs scored, and four RBI. His 17 hits since September 5 are the most by any player in Triple-A during that span.

Chad Stevens extended his hitting and scoring streak to six consecutive games, tying Rhylan Thomas for the longest active run scoring streak in the league. Stevens went 2-for-4 and added three RBI, his most runs batted in since having four in Oklahoma City on August 3. Stevens brought his hit total to 130 on the season, tying Kean Wong (2022) for the most by a Bee since 2021.

Up Next

Salt Lake will look to take the upper hand in the series in game three on Thursday night as Brett Kerry (7-9, 7.93) faces Kade Morris (7-7, 5.46) on the mound with first pitch slated for 8:05 p.m. MST at Las Vegas Ballpark.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 18, 2025


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