Hansen nabs five hitless frames for Bandits

Class A Quad Cities has played most of its games on the road this season, so it's been easy for Austin Hansen to find a rhythm away from home. But his performance Tuesday was about more than just rhythm.
The 22-year-old Astros right-hander didn't allow a hit over five innings as the River Bandits routed the Peoria Chiefs, 8-0, at Dozer Park. Hansen (2-1) struck out five and walked three in his second scoreless start of the young season.

"Me and [catcher] Cesar Salazar were on the same page, mixing all the pitches and not getting too heavy and abusing one pitch," Hansen said. "The curveball to lefties and the slider to righties were my most effective pitches today, to keep guys off balance and sneak the fastball by them after showing those pitches early."
The 2018 eighth-round pick struck out leadoff batter Lars Nootbaar after a nine-pitch at-bat before walking top Cardinals prospectNolan Gorman, one of the Midwest League's hottest hitters this season. He got Brady Whalen to fly out to left and struck out Leandro Cedeno to end a 26-pitch opening frame.
After getting a quick groundout from Brendan Donovan, Hansen walked 18th-ranked Ivan Herrera. The 6-foot, 195-pound hurler got into a real groove after that, retiring eight straight batters to get through four innings unscathed.
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"I tried to just focus on taking good breaths and taking it one pitch at a time. That's my biggest thing when I throw a couple balls in a row or get squeezed by the umpires," said the native of Lenexa, Kansas. "That pitch is over with, and I need to be on to the next one and get that guy out."
Hansen walked Herrera again on eight pitches to open the fifth, but he quickly got Brandon Riley into an 0-2 count and induced a double-play groundout to shortstop. He struck out the final two batters he faced, Josh Shaw and Delvin Perez, on a combined seven pitches to punctuate the outing on his season-high 78th pitch.
"I had an idea that was my last inning, because that first inning I threw about 30 pitches and knew the pitch count was up there. But I didn't really change anything knowing it was my last inning," Hansen said. "Keep doing the same thing. Keep making the pitch."
Tuesday's outing wasn't the first five-inning gem of the season for the 2018 eighth-round pick, who made his full-season debut in scintillating fashion April 9 in Clinton when he struck out 11 LumberKings without a walk while allowing two hits over five frames.

Hansen's second start on April 16 didn't go quite as well, however, and it was just the second home game of the season for the River Bandits after flooding in Davenport, Iowa, caused their opening series to be moved to Burlington.
"I think it was just me trying to do too much in my second start," he said. "Every game we'd pitched had been on the road because of the flooding, so it's about finding that groove. I was definitely trying to do way too much. This was more about attacking hitters, attacking the zone and not really focusing on the outcome."
R.J. Freure allowed Peoria's first hit of the game to start the seventh, a single to left field by Leandro Cedeno. That was the only hit the right-hander gave up in four innings out of the bullpen, and Freure struck out five while walking two to finish the shutout.
David Hensley had four of Quad Cities' 13 hits, including a solo home run in the fourth -- the second of back-to-back homers withJonathan Lacroix.
Alvaro Seijas (1-2) took the loss for Peoria, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.