Trautwein Powers Bats to Win with Walk-Off Homer

Louisville, KY – Michael Trautwein blasted a two-out walk-off home run to propel the Louisville Bats (2-0) to a 4-3 win over the Indianapolis Indians (0-2) on Saturday afternoon. For the first time since 2014, the Bats are 2-0 at the beginning of the season.

Both teams got off to a quiet start, going scoreless for four innings. The nine straight zeroes was a testament to the premiere pitching matchup between Louisville’s right-handed starter Lyon Richardson, who made his season debut for the Bats this year, and fellow righty Paul Skenes who took the mound for Indianapolis in his first Triple-A appearance.

Richardson came out strong in the first inning, tossing a three-pitch strikeout to Indianapolis’ leadoff man. He followed up by securing another strikeout and a flyout for a scoreless first frame.

Skenes also recorded two strikeouts in the bottom half of the first for the Indians. In total, Skenes threw 46 pitches with five strikeouts through three innings of work.

Louisville reached base for the first time in the bottom of the fourth on a single by left fielder Jacob Hurtubise, although they were unable to take advantage and the scorleless tie stretched on.

Richardson went five innings for the Bats, tossing 75 pitches with four strikeouts. The righty ended his stint on the mound this afternoon by stranding an Indians runner in scoring position to keep Indianapolis at zero going into the last third of the game.

P.J. Higgins triggered a Bats rally in the bottom of the fifth with a double to right field. Trautwein then drew a walk, setting up Rece Hinds to smash a 405-foot three-run homer which put Louisville up 3-0. With back-to-back games with a longball, this is Hinds’ second home run of the season so far.

Indianapolis started to chip away at the Bats’ lead in the top of the seventh. Stringing together a couple of base hits, the Indians tied up the score at 3-3.

Louisville combined a series of walks with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eighth to create a bases loaded situation but could not capitalize and ultimately stranded all three runners. Brooks Kriske kept the game tied with two scoreless innings of relief in the eighth and ninth.

Still tied at three going into the bottom of the ninth, Trautwein smacked the two-out walk-off homer to win it for Louisville. With their second win of the season, the Bats have secured their first series win of 2024, with a final score of 4-3.

Louisville will look for a season-opening series sw