Clutch Hit Eludes Bats In 4-3 Loss 

After fighting back to turn a four-run deficit down to a single run, the Louisville Bats were unable to claw all the way back, stranding the tying run in scoring position on numerous occasions in a 4-3 loss to the Indianapolis Indians in the opener of a seven-game series on Tuesday night at Victory Field.

Making his first rehab appearance since June 2, Bats southpaw Brandon Williamson was in fine form. He struck out the side in the first to work around a two-out double. He issued a walk in a scoreless second, and quickly got two outs in the third before hitting Joshua Palacios with a pitch. That would be Williamson’s 50^th and final pitch of the night. Over 2.2 innings, he allowed one hit and one walk while striking out four. Justus Sheffield was first out of the Bats bullpen

Indianapolis starter Mike Burrows held the Bats off the board for the duration of his outing, firing four scoreless innings with three hits against, one walk, and five strikeouts. The home team would then break through in the bottom half of the fourth.

Following a leadoff single, Liover Peguero opened the scoring off Sheffield with a two-run homer to right-center, his 12^th of the season. Jake Lamb then singled to center, and Jason Delay promptly doubled the Indians’ lead with a two-run homer of his own to deep center, his seventh of the year to make it 4-0. Indianapolis looked to add on as a single, walk, and hit-by pitch loaded the bases with one out. Sheffield struck out Jack Suwinski for the second out, which would be the final hitter he faced. Brooks Crawford was next into the game for the Bats and struck out Malcom Nunez to strand the bases loaded.

The Bats began to fight back against reliever Ryder Ryan in the fifth. Singles from Levi Jordan, Blake Dunn, and Davis Wendzel loaded the bases with one out. Edwin Rios got the Bats back into the game with one swing, lining a double into the gap in right-center to plate all three runs, trimming the Indians’ lead to 4-3.

Ryan was able to strand Rios at second to preserve the lead, and Crawford did the same to send the game to the sixth. Indianapolis turned to Michael Plassmeyer, and Joey Wiemer immediately greeted him with his first triple of the season to deep left-center, putting the tying run on third with nobody out. With a prime opportunity to get even, Louisville couldn’t get the job done as Plassmeyer struck out the next three hitters he faced to keep Wiemer on third.

Crawford ended a strong relief outing with a scoreless bottom of the seventh. He pitched 2.1 clean innings, allowing one hit and striking out four to keep the Bats in the game.

Plassmeyer (W, 4-9) and Alan Busenitz traded zeroes in the seventh. Again, the Bats threatened to start the eighth with a double from Tony Kemp. Plassmeyer was equally as sharp, getting the first two outs on pop ups before Connor Sadzek was called on and got Erik Gonzalez to ground out, ending the inning with the tying run left in scoring position. Busenitz preserved the one-run deficit going to the ninth.

Sadzek (S, 5) returned and got two outs in the ninth before hitting Wendzel and walking Rios. He was able to end the game by getting P.J. Higgins to hit into a fielder’s choice, securing the one-run win and earning the save.

For the Bats, Sheffield (L, 0-6) took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits over one inning. As a team, Louisville went 2-for-13 with the bases loaded, leaving 11 men on base. Rios, Wendzel, Jordan, and Kemp all recorded a pair of hits. The defense recorded a pair of double plays, the fifth straight game with two double plays turned for the Bats. The Bats’ winless streak is now at eight games.

The Bats (57-68, 19-32 second half) meet the Indians (60-63, 27-23 second half) again in a doubleheader on Wednesday night. First pitch at Victory Field is set for 5:35 p.m. The second game will start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion after the first. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.