Bats Late Rally Falls Short In 7-4 Defeat At Toledo

The Louisville Bats rallied late but ultimately fell short 7-4 to the Toledo Mud Hens on Friday night at Fifth Third Field.

After two scoreless innings to start the game, the Mud Hens got on the board first with a three-run home run by Jace Jung to give Toledo a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

Mud Hens starter Brant Hurter held Louisville hitless for 5.1 innings. Erik González smacked a one-out double to right field to break up the no-hitter, but the Bats were unable to take advantage of runner in scoring position as Hurter struck out the next two batters he faced.

Bats starter Julian Aguiar (L, 3-1) tossed five innings of solid baseball, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out a total of four Todelo batters and was replaced by Reiver Sanmartin.

Toledo took advantage of the new Louisville pitcher in the bottom of the sixth as Justice Bigbie got the effort started by drawing a one-out walk and Riley Unroe followed with a single. Although it led to an out, Bigbie came around to score on a ground ball off the bat of Stephen Scott to make the score 4-0.

With Spencer Stockton now on the mound for the Bats, Akil Baddoo doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Spencer Torkelson followed with a single to left to put runners on the corners before Baddoo came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jung. The following at-bat, Dillon Dingler launched a two-run home run down the left field line to extend the Mud Hens’ lead to 7-0.

Hurter (W, 2-4) was taken out of the game in the eighth inning, producing a quality start and allowing no runs. He held the Bats to one hit, struck out a total of six batters, and was replaced by Garrett Hill.

Eric Yang hit the first pitch he saw from Hill for a single to begin the top of the ninth for the Bats. After the next batter struck out, Blake Dunn and pinch-hitter Ivan Johnson drew back-to-back walks, then Levi Jordan launched a double that cleared the bases and put the Bats on the board. Toledo put Austin Schulfer on the mound to earn the final two outs. He struck out the first batter he faced but gave up an RBI single to Tony Kemp. Although there were three hits in the inning, the Bats were unable to complete the rally, ending the game at 7-4.

The Bats (49-49, 11-13 second half) and Mud Hens (46-53, 11-14 second half) play game five of the six-game series on Saturday night, with first pitch at Fifth Third Field scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.