Bats Stricken By Stripers In 3-1 Loss

In a briskly-played pitcher’s duel, the Gwinnett Stripers got the decisive hit they needed to hand the Louisville Bats a 3-1 loss in the opener of a six-game series at Louisville Slugger Field on Tuesday night.

Both starters were on top of their games from the outset. For the Bats, southpaw Brandon Leibrandt retired the first eight hitters he faced before an infield single from Justin Dean extended the inning. Leibrandt looked to have Anderson picked off first, but the throw to second from Bats first baseman Edwin Rios was errant and went into the outfield, allowing Dean to move to third. Nacho Alvarez cashed in with an RBI single to center.

Gwinnett righty Bryce Elder was equally as sharp early. He worked around a pair of two-out singles for a scoreless first and set the Bats down in order in the second. Louisville was able to fight back in the third. Ivan Johnson and Blake Dunn began the inning with back-to-back singles. Tony Kemp then evened the score with a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Johnson from third.

Both starters continued to roll in the fourth. But in the fifth, the Stripers would get the decisive swing. Following a leadoff double from former Bat Alejo Lopez, Brian Anderson connected on a two-run homer onto the left field berm, his first as a Striper to make it 3-1 Gwinnett. Leibrandt rebounded from there to strand a leadoff double in the sixth and end another quality start.

In his fourth straight quality start, Leibrandt (L, 3-3) allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts over six innings.

Pitching with the lead, Elder was strong from there. With two outs in the fifth, Dunn singled, stole second, and advanced to third on an error. Elder got through it by inducing a ground out from Kemp. Elder continued to cruise through the sixth and seventh, got a double play to erase a leadoff single in the eighth, and returned for the mound in the ninth.

Leading off the bottom of the ninth, Rece Hinds sent a fly ball to deep right, but it was tracked down by Dean shy of the warning track for the first out. The Stripers then went to the bullpen and brought in closer Tommy Doyle. Rios greeted him with a double to bring the tying run to the plate. Doyle (S, 3) rebounded to retire the next two hitters he faced to earn the save and wrap up the win.

For the Bats, Connor Overton was first out of the bullpen in long relief and was stellar in long relief, firing three scoreless innings with two hits, one walk, and three strikeouts to keep the game close. Dunn, Rios, and Johnson all recorded a pair of hits for the Bats in the loss.

Elder (W, 8-3) picked up the win in his longest outing of the season, giving up one run on seven hits with five strikeouts over 8.1 innings. Anderson’s two-run homer proved to be the difference.

The Bats (57-62, 19-26 second half) continue the series with the Stripers (59-62, 24-22 second half) on Wednesday night. First pitch at Louisville Slugger Field is set for 6:35 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.