Bats Snap Skid With 8-5 Victory Over Indianapolis

With an explosive ninth inning, the Louisville Bats snapped their four-game losing streak in the last game of the series against Indianapolis Indians, holding on for an 8-5 win on Saturday evening at Victory Field.

Seven of nine players in the Louisville lineup recorded a hit in the win. Rece Hinds went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, and three RBI, and Livan Soto was 1-for-4 with two hits and two RBI of his own.

Louisville wasted no time getting started thanks to Hinds. His 13^th home run of the year, a 429-foot blast to dead center, gave the Bats a 1-0 lead two hitters into the game against Indianapolis starter Marco Gonzales (L, 0-1). On the defensive side of the diamond, Peyton Burdick made a diving catch to help keep the Indians scoreless through the bottom half of the frame.

Indianapolis fought back in the bottom of the third, kicking off a rally when Matt Fraizer singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Eric Yang. He later scored on a single from Ji Hwan Bae to even the score up at 1-1.

The Bats took back their lead in the top of the fifth, starting with a one-out single from Erik González. Jacob Hurtubise followed up with a walk, and an RBI double from Hinds sent both runners home. Soto kept the burst going by drawing a walk and later scoring on a single from P.J. Higgins to bring the Louisville lead to 4-1.

The Indians gained one back in the bottom of the eighth, taking advantage of a leadoff walk to Andrés Alvarez. Bae followed up with a single, and a walk to Henry Davis loaded the bases for Malcom Nuñez who smacked a sacrifice fly to put the tally at 4-2.

Louisville answered in the top of the ninth, stringing together five hits in a row. Hurtubise got it started with a leadoff single, followed by a double from Hinds, his second of the evening, a single by Soto, and a ground-rule double from Higgins which extended the Bats’ lead to 7-2. Conner Capel then singled to keep the effort alive, and Hernán Pérez clocked a sacrifice fly to make it 8-2.

Indianapolis responded with five straight hits of their own to start the bottom of the ninth against Bats closer Tony Santillan, cutting the score to 8-5 and brining the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Santillan settled down to get two strikeouts. But he wouldn’t have a chance to get the third. Evan Kravetz (S, 1) was called on and struck out Nuñez to end the game and record his first Triple-A save.

Despite not being able to pitch on Wednesday evening due to weather, Bats starter Julian Aguiar (W, 1-0) dazzled in his third start for Louisville. He allowed just one earned run and recorded six strikeouts in six innings of work. In securing the first out in the bottom of the sixth, Aguiar successfully retired nine straight Indians hitters. Aguiar’s performance resulted in his first Triple-A win.

After two off days, the Bats (42-43, 4-7 second half) will return to Louisville Slugger Field for a six-game series against the St. Paul Saints. The first game of the set begins on Tuesday, July 9 with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.