Louisville Drops Close Call Against Indianapolis, 3-2 

Louisville put up a valiant effort in their first game back at Slugger Field since mid-June but ultimately fell in the series opener against Indianapolis on Monday evening with a final score of 3-2.

The Bats got straight to work vs. Indians lefty Marcos Gonzales, capturing the lead in the bottom of the first. Jacob Hurtubise got the offense going with a leadoff triple, and Livan Soto drove him in with an RBI single to right field to give the Bats a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the second, Indianapolis took advantage of several walks and a single from Matt Gorski to tie it up at 1-1. With the bases still loaded, Louisville’s righthanded starter Grant Gavin secured a groundout to escape the inning without further damage.

The Bats kicked off another scoring burst in the bottom half of the frame, starting with a leadoff double by Hernán Pérez. Pérez advanced to third on a groundout from Conner Capel and then scored on an error by Indians’ third baseman Mike Jarvis to take back the lead at 2-1.

After a couple of quiet innings, the Indians evened the tally again at 2-2 in the top of the fifth after capitalizing on a leadoff double by Ji Hwan Bae and an RBI single from Alika Williams. A single from Jake Lamb and a double-play grounder scored another for Indianapolis, making it 3-2.

Indianapolis fought to extend their lead in the top of the ninth on a base-hit single, but Louisville turned their second double play of the night to keep the deficit at just one as Zach Maxwell notched a scoreless frame.

The Bats attempted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth when Rece Hinds reached on a throwing error by Indians’ second baseman Ji-Hwan Bae, giving Indianapolis its fifth error of the evening, and Peréz walked to put two on with no one out against Ben Heller (S, 1). Capel couldn’t take advantage, popping up in the infield for the first out, and Erik González followed with a blooper to shallow center field that Bae made an impressive catch on for the second out. He then turned and fired to second base, nabbing González for the game-ending double play.

In his Bats debut, Grant Gavin (L, 0-1) allowed three runs and recorded one strikeout in four innings of work. Yosver Zulueta and Brooks Kriske handled two innings each, keeping the Indians off the board with two and four strikeouts, respectively.

Louisville (41-40, 3-4 second half) will play the second game of the homestand series against the Indians (35-45, 2-5 second half) tomorrow, Tuesday, July 2 with the first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.