Jacksonville closes out series with extra innings win over Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After falling behind early, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp slugged their way to a 9-8 win over the Louisville Bats in 10 innings Sunday afternoon from Louisville Slugger Field.

Tied at eight in the top of the 10th, Jakob Marsee started the inning at second as the ghost runner for Jacksonville (65-71, 30-31). With two outs, Will Banfield doubled off Louisville (62-75, 24-39) hurler Alan Busenitz (L, 5-4), plating Marsee to put the Jumbo Shrimp ahead 9-8.

Following a single from Ivan Johnson to start the bottom of the 10th, Austin Roberts (S, 1) induced a pop up and then a game-ending double play to secure the win for the Jumbo Shrimp.

The Bats opened the scoring with three in the bottom of the first. With one out, Levi Jordan singled and went to second after an errant pickoff attempt. Two batters later, Davis Wendzel knocked him in with a base hit for a 1-0 advantage for Louisville. PJ Higgins followed with a base hit. With runners on first and second, Joey Wiemer singled home Higgins, pushing the lead to 2-0. Johnson reached on a throwing error that allowed Higgins to score the third run but Wiemer was thrown out trying to score to end the inning.

Louisville increased their lead in the bottom of the second. Francisco Urbaez led off with a double and Jacob Hurtubise walked two batters later. Following a strikeout, Edwin Ríos reached on a fielding error that scored Urbaez to give the Bats a four-run advantage.

Jacksonville broke through in the top of the fourth. Nick Gordon and Jacob Berry started the inning with back-to-back singles. Two batters later, Bennett Hostetler doubled home Gordon cutting the deficit to three. Berry went to third on the double and Harrison Spohn drove him in with a base hit to make the score 4-2.

Louisville extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Ríos (19) blasted a solo shot increasing the Bats’ advantage to 5-2.

The Jumbo Shrimp turned the game on its head in the top of the fifth. Deyvison De Los Santos, Banfield and Gordon started the inning with three-straight singles to load the bases. Berry swatted a base hit, cutting the deficit to 5-3. Diego Infante grounded out, scoring Banfield to make it a one-run game 5-4. Hostetler followed with a two-run triple putting Jacksonville ahead 6-5.

The Bats went back to work in the sixth. Urbaez started the inning with a base hit and went to second as González reached on a fielding error. Hurtubise reached second on the second error of the inning, and Urbaez scored the tying run. González went to third on the error and scored on a sac fly from Jordan to put Louisville ahead 7-6.

Louisville extended their lead to two runs in the seventh. Higgins singled and was thrown out at second as Wiemer reached on a fielder’s choice. Johnson followed with a single, pushing Wiemer to third. Urbaez knocked in Wiemer with a base hit giving the Bats a two-run advantage, 8-6.

The Jumbo Shrimp evened the game in the top of the eighth. Spohn reached on an error to start the inning but was thrown out as Marsee reached on a fielder’s choice. Agustín Ramírez reached on the second error of the inning, putting runners at first and second. De Los Santos singled in Marsee cutting the Bats’ lead to one, 8-7. Banfield followed suit with a single to load the bases and Gordon tied the game with a sac fly.

Following an off day tomorrow, Jacksonville travels to Charlotte, North Carolina to begin a series with the Knights, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on ESPN 690, and www.ESPN690.com.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The team calls 121 Financial Ballpark home for baseball but also a wide variety of additional community focused events with a goal of providing Affordable, Family, FUN to Northeast Florida. Winners of many marketing and sales awards and recognition since the team was rebranded prior to the 2017 season, the Jumbo Shrimp continually lead the state of Florida in attendance across all minor league professional sports organizations.