Bats Stifled By Storm Chasers In Opener 7-1

Despite a solid start from Connor Phillips, the Louisville Bats dropped the opener of their six-game series to the Omaha Storm Chasers 7-1 on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

Omaha quickly opened the scoring off Phillips in the top of the first. Drew Waters reached with a one-out single, Brian O’Keefe continued the inning with a two-out single and Nelson Velazquez was able to drive in the first run with a single of his own to center.

The Bats could do little against Omaha southpaw Tyson Guerrero in their first turn through the lineup. The Storm Chasers would then double the lead in the fourth. Phillips began the inning with a couple strikeouts before three straight singles, capped by one up the middle from Rodolfo Duran, brought in another run to make it 2-0 Omaha.

Phillips worked around a leadoff double in the fifth to continue a good start. The Bats finally got the breakthrough they were looking for in the fifth on a towering 413-foot solo home run to left from Francisco Urbaez, his first with the Bats this season, to make it a 2-1 game.

In the sixth, Phillips wrapped up a quality start with a couple more strikeouts. In what was likely his final start of the regular season, Phillips (L, 3-9) set a season-high with nine strikeouts, giving up two runs on seven hits to keep the game close. However, he would still suffer the loss.

Guerrero (W, 1-2) departed after 5.2 innings, striking out seven while giving up the one run on three hits to earn the win.

Omaha again quickly doubled their lead in the seventh off Brooks Crawford. Duran got it started with a walk and Cam Devanney followed with a two-run homer to dead center, increasing the Omaha lead to 4-1. The Storm Chasers put the game out of reach in the eighth with two more runs against Evan Kravetz, one on a solo shot from Nick Pratto and another on an RBI single from Cam Devanney.

Justus Sheffield ended the game on the mound for Louisville in the ninth and gave up a run. The Storm Chasers bullpen of Noah Murdock, Dan Altavilla, and Evan Sisk combined to keep the Bats off the board, finishing the win.

The Bats were held to five hits in the loss. Eric Yang and Jacob Hurtubise each recorded a pair of singles, while Urbaez’s homer was the only extra-base hit.

The Bats (64-80, 26-44 second half) and Storm Chasers (87-56, 38-32 second half) continue the series on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch at Louisville Slugger Field is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.