Explosive Fourth Leaves Bats With 8-5 Defeat Vs. St. Paul

Five members of the Louisville lineup recorded an RBI, but the Bats dropped game two in the series against the Saints 8-5 at CHS Field in St. Paul on Wednesday night.

With two outs in the top of the first, Rece Hinds got the Bats on the board with a solo home run. With his third long ball of the year, Hinds extended his season-long hitting streak to eight games.

Louisville rallied in the second, starting with a leadoff walk to Peyton Burdick. Michael Trautwein followed up with a single and Conor Capel reached on interference by Saints catcher Chris Williams. Thanks to a ground-out RBI by Erik González and back-to-back singles from Blake Dunn and Livan Soto, the Bats pulled away early with a 4-0 advantage.

In the third, Louisville strengthened its lead with the second solo homer of the game, this time by Edwin Ríos. Burdick and Capel both doubled to put two more on, but the Bats were unable to capitalize and ended the frame ahead 5-0. Capel’s double extended his on-base streak to seven games and his hitting streak to five.

Following several quiet innings to begin the game, the St. Paul lineup got hot in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Anthony Prato was hit by a pitch and Diego Castillo drew a walk. A single by Deshawn Keirsey Jr. and ground-rule double by Austin Martin scored two for the Saints, inching St. Paul closer at 5-2. Matt Wallner then reached on a fielding error by Ríos, allowing two more to score for the Saints. A two-run homer by Michael Helman then led St. Paul to overtake Louisville with a tally of 6-5. On the defensive side, Trautwein picked off Yunior Severino on a throw to second to cap the frame and prevent any further damage.

The Saints took advantage of a single, a passed ball, and several walks to build a comfortable lead of 8-5. In the bottom of the seventh. Despite coming into a tricky bases-loaded situation, reliever Evan Kravetz secured a strikeout to end St. Paul’s scoring stint.

Louisville threatened a comeback in the eighth with Dunn and Soto taking back-to-back walks, but the lineup fell short and stranded both runners. Ultimately, the Bats fell to St. Paul with a final score of 8-5.

Coming on in the fourth, Casey Legumina took over for righthanded starter Carson Spiers (1-1, 3.45), who tossed 3.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Both Legumina and Kravetz recorded four strikeouts in 2.1 and 1.1 innings of work, respectively.

Hinds recorded his second consecutive 2-hit game and Trautwein also recorded two hits in the offensive effort for the Bats.

Louisville (14-15) will continue the series against the Saints (11-16) tomorrow, Thursday, May 2 with game three of six in St. Paul. First pitch is set for 7:37 p.m. and Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.