Hurter has heroic start in Hens' 7-4 victory

Fans flooded into Fifth Third Field and were greeted with a smile and a Muddy themed straw hat to celebrate Margaritaville night. The Toledo Mud Hens dawned some Jimmy Buffett-esk uniforms in their matchup with the Louisville Bats. The Hens got off to an amazing start thanks to their pitching and some timely hits. In the end, the Margaritaville Mud Hens came out on top 7-4. “We’ve been waiting for it all to click,” Tim Federowics said. “And, these last four games, it has.”

The Mud Hens took control of this game early as Brant Hurter got off to a stellar start. He was able to hold the Bats hitless through 5 innings, while picking up 4 strikeouts. He even did some fielding work of his own as he made an amazing grab on a grounder that Livan Soto pounded right to him for an easy out.

Toledo was only able to pick up one hit in Julian Aguiar’s first inning on a lead-off double off the bat of Akil Baddoo. Baddoo and Spencer Torkelason would later find themselves on base in the third inning. Jace Jung was able to capitalize on this with the Hens’ second hit, a three-run homer. Jung sent the ball flying 109.1 mph at the Fricker’s wall to take the 3-0 lead.

In the sixth inning, following a fifth Hurter strikeout, Louisville would finally find their first hit. Erik Gonzalez was able to end the drought with a double that found a comfortable gap in left-center field.

The Mud Hens would counter the end of their no hit bid with a scoring drive in the bottom of the sixth. Justice Bigbie drew a walk off of Reiver Sanmartin, before Riley Unroe had a hard hit ground ball to left field for a base hit. That would put the baserunners on the corners and bring Stephen Scott up to bat. Scott wouldn’t make it on base, but his hit would be good for an RBI.

After the seventh inning, Hurter would be relieved from his pitching duties. The ace would finish with six strikeouts, one hit, and zero walks.

The Hens hitters would show how grateful they were for their pitcher. Baddoo got the party started with his second double of the game. Torkelson followed that up with a base hit to put runners on the corners. Jung picked up his fourth RBI with a sacrifice fly to bring Dillon Dingler to the plate. Dingler has absolutely torched the Bats in this series and this plate appearance would be no different. He took Spencer Stockton 381 ft into Mike Hessman’s Home Run Alley for his fourth home run of the series.

In Hurter’s relief, Garrett Hill entered the game with a 7-0 lead. Hill rejoined Toledo after spending a while with the Erie Sea Wolves. Andrew Navigato would exit the game also, as Drew Maggi replaced him. This lineup would close out the final two innings, with Louisville loading the bases in the ninth. A Levi Jordan double would break the shutout as Austin Schulfer took over on the mound up 7-3. Schulfer let up another run, but escaped with the win and two strikeouts.

The Toledo Mud Hens and the Louisville Bats will face off again Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Toledo has already secured the series win, but will look to go for the sweep this weekend.

Notables:

Brant Hurter (W, 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 0 HR)

Jace Jung (1-2, HR, 2 BB, 4 RBI, R)

Dillon Dingler (2-5, HR, 2 RBI, R)

Akil Baddoo (2-3, 2 2B, BB, HBP, 2 R