Louisville's Okey hits for the cycle

Chris Okey already had a single, a home run and a triple in the game when he was on-deck with two outs in the ninth inning on Saturday night. The backstop had already driven in three runs and scored twice, and Triple-A Louisville had a sizeable lead on the scoreboard. But when a six-pitch walk allowed Okey to step to the plate for a final time, there was just one thing left to accomplish -- history.

And the 27-year-old did just that.

After working the count full, Okey lined a ball over the head of the right fielder and motored around the bases for a two-run double that not only capped the Bats' 11-3 victory over Gwinnett at Coolray Field, it also cemented the seventh cycle in Louisville franchise history.

Okey finished with his first four-hit effort since Sept. 19, 2021, and his five RBIs were his most since May 22, 2019, when he drove in seven runs as part of a three-homer performance. The cycle is the first for Louisville since Brandon Dixon did it on July 17, 2018, at Rochester.

In the second inning, Okey dribbled a soft ground ball to third and legged out an infield single with two outs. A base hit from TJ Friedl followed, but the pair were left stranded on the basepaths to close the frame.

After striking out on five pitches in the fourth, the 2016 second-round Draft pick sent a hard hit ball into right-center that deflected off of the trying glove of Drew Waters and found the grass in the sixth inning. Okey scampered to third for his third three-bagger of the year. He wasn't there long though, as Friedl launched a home run four pitches later.

In the following frame, Okey followed a Ronnie Dawson two-out walk with his first home run of the season. The Clemson product turned around a 1-1 inside fastball and sent it over the wall in left-center field for a three-run blast that all but put the game out of reach.

Dawson's second two-out walk, in the ninth, set the stage for Okey in the final frame.

Okey is sporting a .242/.309/.435 slash line with seven extra-base hits, 10 runs scored, nine RBIs and six walks over 22 games this season. Friday marked his second multihit game of the year.