Louisville Offense Silent In Shutout At Omaha

For the second straight night, the Louisville Bats struggled to stifle the Omaha Storm Chasers attack while mounting little of their own, suffering a 10-0 loss on Friday night at Werner Park.

Louisville got the leadoff man on base against Omaha starter Dinelson Lamet with a single from Blake Dunn, who promptly stole second. But he would be left at third base in a clean frame from Lamet.

That would be the Bats’ best chance until the third, when a pair of walks and a ground out put runners on second and third with one out. Rece Hinds then hit a line drive right back up the middle, but it was snagged by Omaha shortstop Cam Devanney, who threw to second to double Dunn off the bag, ending the threat without a run scoring.

Bats lefty Justus Sheffield (L, 0-5) got through two scoreless innings of his own, but the game unraveled in the third. With two on and one out, Tyler Gentry got the Storm Chasers on the board with an RBI single. Bryan O’Keefe followed with an RBI double to make it 2-0. Rodolfo Duran plated two more with a single to center, again doubling the lead to 4-0 after three. Sheffield (L, 0-5) took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts over three innings.

Grant Gavin was first out of the Bats’ bullpen and was wild, walking five and allowing three more runs over two innings as the Storm Chasers’ lead ballooned to 7-0 after five. Omaha then plated three more runs against Reiver Sanmartin in the sixth before Casey Legumina got the final out of the inning.

After four straight innings with at least one run, the Storm Chasers were finally held off the board by Legumina in the seventh. Zach Maxwell ended the night on the mound for Louisville with a scoreless eighth.

For the Storm Chasers, Lamet (W, 3-0) earned the win with six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing one hit. Dan Altavilla, Austin Cox, and Noah Murdock combined to throw the final three innings and finish off the win.

The shutout marks the first time all season the Bats have been shut out in back-to-back games. Louisville has been held without a run for 22 straight innings, a season-long streak. Dunn recorded the only Bats hit with his leadoff single in the first, adding two stolen bases in the defeat.

The Bats (56-60, 18-24 second half) and Storm Chasers (73-43, 23-20 second half) meet again on Saturday night at Werner Park. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.