Sluggish Offense Hands Bats Third Straight Loss

The Louisville Bats offense struggled in the early going, falling behind big in the middle innings and dropping their third consecutive game to the Omaha Storm Chasers, 8-2.

The Bats experienced some déjà vu to start Friday’s contest. For the second time in the series, John Rave led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo shot to give Omaha a 1-0 lead.

After Louisville went silently in the top of the second, Thursday’s walk-off hero Cam Devanney ripped an RBI single through the left side to scratch across the Storm Chasers’ second run of the game. Omaha made Bats starter and former Storm Chaser Drew Parrish (L, 0-1) work for everything in the early going, and the southpaw’s pitch count sat at 59 after recording just five outs. Back-to-back walks to load the bases ended Parrish’s day earlier than he had anticipated. In his first game against his old team, the lefty exited with two outs in the second, allowing two earned on four hits and three walks, striking out one. Carson Rudd inherited the bases loaded threat and recorded a punchout to escape trouble.

Omaha’s bats were back to work in the bottom of the fourth, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Rave brought home his second RBI of the game with a squeeze bunt down the first base line to give the Storm Chasers a 3-0 lead after four.

As the game drifted into the middle innings, Louisville’s offense continued to sputter. Omaha starter Tyson Guerrero (W, 1-1) was perfect through the first five innings with seven strikeouts, keeping at bay a Bats offense that entered the game with the sixth-highest on-base percentage in the International League at .362.

Omaha tacked on a handful of runs in the bottom of the fifth, capitalizing on wild pitches and a fielding error to extend its lead to 8-0.

After the Storm Chasers brought Anthony Simonelli on in relief in the sixth, Louisville got its first baserunner with two outs thanks to a Will Banfield walk, although he did not come around to score.

Alexis Diaz, rehabbing from a left hamstring strain, made his Triple-A debut with a shutout sixth inning, and Will Benson led off the top of the seventh with a single to break up the no-hitter and extend his hit streak to seven games.

The seventh and eighth came and went without any scoring, and Jacob Wallace came on to close out the game for the Storm Chasers in the ninth. The Bats put two runners in scoring position with nobody out, and Benson’s RBI groundout ended the Omaha shutout bid, making it 8-1. Noelvi Marte’s sacrifice fly brought home another run for Louisville, but it was too little, too late, as Wallace struck out Rece Hinds to hand the Bats their third straight loss, this one by a score of 8-2.

The Bats (3-4) will continue their six-game series with the Storm Chasers (4-2) on Saturday afternoon at Werner Park, looking to snap their three-game skid. First pitch for Saturday is set for 3:05 p.m. ET., and Nick Curran will be on the call for WKRD Sports Talk 790 AM.