Bats Win Extra-Inning Thriller Over Storm Chasers 6-5

The Louisville Bats rallied late to force extra innings and ultimately earned a 6-5 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers in 10 innings on Saturday night at Werner Park.

In the bottom half of the first, Bats starter Casey Kelly allowed a leadoff single, but bounced back quickly by striking out a batter and inducing a double play to fend off the Storm Chasers early on.

After converting the first two batters into outs in the top of the second, Omaha starter Chandler Champlain gave up back-to-back singles to Tucker Barnhart and Erik González. He then walked the next two batters, including a bases-loaded free pass to Blake Dunn which forced in a run to give the Bats an early 1-0 lead.

Both starters threw scoreless innings before Omaha jumped on the board in the bottom of the third. With two outs in the inning, Drew Waters drew a walk followed by a two-run blast by Nick Loftin to give the Storm Chasers a 2-1 lead.

The following inning and a half featured no baserunners before Ryan Fitzgerald broke the standoff with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth. Cam Devanney followed suit with a single of his own before John Rave doubled to right field to allow both runners to cross home plate and extend Omaha’s lead to 4-1.

After the first two batters struck out in the top of the sixth, P.J. Higgins doubled and Barnhart singled forcing Omaha to make a pitching change. Jonathan Bowlan replaced Champlain and allowed an RBI single to González that cut the Storm Chasers’ lead to 4-2.

Alan Busenitz took over for the Bats in the bottom of the sixth to replace Kelly, who threw five innings and allowed four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts in his second Louisville start. Busenitz allowed a two-out single, but was able throw a scoreless inning,

Dunn began the seventh inning by reaching base on a throwing error by the shortstop before Bowlan got the next two batters out. Edwin Ríos took advantage of the runner on base with an RBI double followed by an RBI single by Davis Wendzel to tie the game at 4-4.

Busenitz stayed in the game for the bottom of the seventh and threw a one, two, three inning and Steven Cruz came into the game in the following frame and similarly held the Bats to a one, two, three inning.

Omaha threatened to score in the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back singles and a fielder’s choice to load the bases with nobody out. But Busenitz was able to force a double play, including an out at home, and a groundout to end the inning with the game still tied at four.

After the Bats went quietly in the top of the ninth, Busenitz (W, 5-2) returned in the bottom half for his fourth inning of relief, his longest outing of the season. He pitched another clean inning, forcing the game into extra innings. Over four innings in his longest relief outing with the Bats, he allowed three hits and struck out one to earn the victory.

Evan Sisk took the ball for the Storm Chasers in the top of the tenth and was able to get two early outs before Wendzel singled to right, allowing automatic runner Tony Kemp to score from second. Higgins launched his second double of the game to extend Louisville’s lead to 6-4 before getting caught in a rundown trying to advance to third.

The Bats replaced Busenitz in the bottom of the tenth with Zach Maxwell (S, 5). He allowed an RBI single to Nick Loftin before retiring the next three hitters, ending the game with a fastball for strike three at 102.5 miles per hour past Nick Pratto to earn the save.

Wendzel led the way for the Bats, going 3-5 with the tying and go-ahead RBI. Higgins, Barnhart, and Gonzalez each added a pair of hits in the victory.

The Bats (57-60, 19-24 second half) and Storm Chasers (73-44, 23-21 second half) meet again for the series finale on Sunday night at Werner Park. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.