Bats Fall In Saturday Slugfest 10-7

In the penultimate game of the 2024 season, the Louisville Bats struggled to contain the Omaha Storm Chasers attack and couldn’t complete a late comeback, ultimately suffering a 10-7 loss on Saturday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

Two hitters into the game, the Storm Chasers took the lead on Drew Waters’ solo blast to right off Casey Kelly. The Bats would quickly respond to take the lead in the bottom half. Back-to-back walks to Nick Martini and Levi Jordan put two on with one out. Edwin Rios then crushed a double off the top of the left field fence to tie the game. An infield single from Davis Wendzel brought Jordan home, and P.J. Higgins’ sacrifice fly gave the Bats a 3-1 lead.

Omaha quickly tied the game in the second and then took the lead in the third on Nick Pratto’s RBI double. Kelly and Omaha starter Luinder Avila each threw a clean fourth to keep the score at 4-3 Storm Chasers.

But in the fifth, the game would unravel for Kelly. After an RBI single from Rodolfo Duran, Ryan Fitzgerald connected on a two-run home run to begin to break the game open at 7-3. Two hitters later, Cam Devanney hit a home run of his own, ending Kelly’s night with Louisville down 8-3. Over 4.2 innings, Kelly (L, 0-2) allowed eight runs, seven earned, on 11 hits with a walk and two strikeouts to suffer his second loss of the season.

The Bats got two runs back in the bottom of the frame on run scoring doubles from Martini and Higgins, cutting the Omaha lead to 8-5. In the sixth, an RBI single from Nelson Velazquez increased their lead back to four against Brooks Crawford.

Reiver Sanmartin next into the game for the Bats in the seventh and got into a bases-loaded jam. He escaped with a strike out and a ground out to hold the four-run deficit. Louisville continued to fight back, this time trimming the deficit in half to 9-7 on RBI singles from Rios and Higgins, the two players who entered play tied for the team RBI lead.

The Storm Chasers capped their scoring with a run against Casey Legumina in the eighth before Zach Maxwell pitched a scoreless ninth

The Storm Chasers capped their scoring with a run against Casey Legumina in the eighth before Zach Maxwell pitched a scoreless ninth. Evan Sisk (S, 15) was called on for the save opportunity and finished the win with a clean ninth, striking out the side.

Higgins went 3-for-4 with three RBI, giving him a new career-high of 68 RBI. Rios also added three hits including a double, driving in a pair while scoring twice. The first six hitters in the Louisville lineup all recorded at least one hit while the bottom three combined to go 0-for-12.

The Bats (66-82, 28-46 second half) and Storm Chasers (89-58, 40-34 second half) end the 2024 season with a Sunday matinee. First pitch at Louisville Slugger Field is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1.