Bats Outslug Nashville, Win 14-8
LOUISVILLE, KY - The Louisville Bats (46-40) return from the All Star break and defeat the Nashville Sounds (48-38) by a score of 14-8 with four Bats starters recording three hits. All nine Louisville starters hit safely in tonight's effort, marking the second game in a row where nine players
LOUISVILLE, KY - The Louisville Bats (46-40) return from the All Star break and defeat the Nashville Sounds (48-38) by a score of 14-8 with four Bats starters recording three hits.
All nine Louisville starters hit safely in tonight's effort, marking the second game in a row where nine players have recorded a hit and the fifth game in a row where eight or more players have recorded a hit. They also recorded 19 hits in today’s game, the second game in a row where Louisville recorded 15 hits or more hits, the first time this has been accomplished since 2021.
The Bats got on the board first, scoring two runs in the home half of the first inning. Stuart Fairchild drew a walk to lead off the inning followed by a single by Nick Martini. A sacrifice fly by Matt Reynolds brought home Fairchild before Christian Encarnacion-Strand sharply doubled to left field. Martini also came home on a sacrifice fly by Noelvi Marte to give the Bats an early 2-0 lead.
Nashville responded in the following frame, scoring three runs on back-to-back home runs to take a 3-2 lead.
Louisville struck again in the bottom of the second inning, scoring four runs on three hits with four stolen bases to regain a lead of 6-3. The Bats stole four bases in the inning for the second time this year. The double steal included a steal of home by Michael Siani, the first steal of home by a Bats player since 2015.
After the Sounds tacked on one more run in the fourth inning, Louisville followed suit, adding a run of their own on three consecutive singles to extend their lead to 7-4.
Matt Reynolds led off the fourth inning with a single to center field followed by a walk by Encarnacion-Strand. After the Sounds sat the next batter, TJ Hopkins singled to center field to bring home Reynolds. With two outs in the inning, Chuckie Robinson hit an infield single to load the bases before a wild pitch would advance the runners to give Louisville a 9-4 lead.
The Sounds scratched across another run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 9-5.
Siani singled to begin the seventh inning before Nick Martini launched his eleventh home of the year, a two-run shot over the right field wall. With two men on and two outs, Noelvi Marte singled to bring home two more runs to make the score 13-5.
Nashville got one more run back in the eighth inning before the Bats immediately answered with two runs of their own. After the first two batters were sat, Siani hit a towering triple to the center field wall before crossing home on a single by Fairchild to take a commanding 14-6 lead.
A two-run home run by the Sounds would cut the Bats lead but wouldn’t be enough as Louisville beat Nashville by a score of 14-8 on Friday night.
Louisville and Nashville will continue the three-game series tomorrow night, Saturday, July 15th with game two. First pitch is set for 7:15 pm E.T. as righty Connor Phillips (0-0, 5.40) will make the start for the Bats against Sounds starters Janson Junk (5-5, 4.74).