Bats Fall to Columbus 6-2 on Friday Night

LOUISVILLE, KY – The Louisville Bats (16-20) four game win streak came to an end tonight, falling 6-2 to the Columbus Clippers (17-19) in game four of the series on Friday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

[Box Score]

Louisville got to work early, putting its first run on the board in the bottom of the second. TJ Hopkins led off the effort with a double into left field, and Michael Siani followed with an RBI single to give the Bats an early lead of 1-0.

Silvino Bracho (0-1, 3.14) turned in two strong innings in a spot start, allowing a single hit without giving up a run and striking out three batters.

The Clippers answered with a grand slam in the top of the third to take at 5-1 lead. Columbus added an insurance run in the seventh to push the lead to five at 6-1.

Ricky Karcher (1-2, 12.83) was the second man out of the bullpen for the Bats, entering the game with two outs in the third inning. Karcher turned in his longest outing of the season, tossing 2.1 hitless innings, striking out four and walking two.

The Bats attempted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, as Siani drew a leadoff walk and Matt Reynolds lined a double into right field to get two runners into scoring position with no outs. Will Benson drew a one out walk to load the bases before Elly De La Cruz brough Siani home with a fielder’s choice grounder to cut Columbus’ lead to 6-2, but that would be the only run Louisville would get in the inning, dropping game four 6-2.

Louisville and Columbus will continue the six-game series tomorrow, Saturday, May 13 with game five. First pitch is set for 7:15 pm E.T. with highly touted left-hander Andrew Abbot (1-0, 3.00) will taking the mound for his Louisville Slugger debut, facing off against fellow lefty Daniel Norris (0-2, 6.43) on the mound for the Clippers.