Bats Walk Off Twice To Sweep Twin Bill

The Louisville Bats took both games of the doubleheader with two walk-off wins against the Mud Hens on Thursday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

Austin Wynns lifted a 3-run walk-off blast in the bottom of the seventh to win game one 4-2, and Erik González had a sacrifice fly to score the winning run in extra innings of game two to win 4-3. The Bats are now a season-high seven games above .500 at 28-21.

After a scoreless first frame, Peyton Burdick and Wynns both earned walks against Toledo starter Bryan Sammons in the bottom of the second to set the table for Hernán Pérez with two outs. The designated hitter popped up to shallow right field to seemingly get Toledo out of the inning, but Mud Hens right fielder Bligh Madris had the ball come out of his glove on the catch to allow Pérez to reach base on the error and Burdick to cross the plate.

Louisville, still without a hit on offense, held their 1-0 lead behind the stellar pitching of starter Lyon Richardson up until the top of the fifth. Anthony Benboom led off the inning with a double for Toledo, and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Parker Meadows to tie the game at one.

Brooks Kriske (W, 4-0) came out of the bullpen in the sixth to relieve Richardson. After recording the first two outs of the frame, Ryan Vilade came up for the Mud Hens and lifted a solo blast to give Toledo their first lead at 2-1, and the Bats couldn’t muster a hit in the bottom half as Sammons completed six no-hit innings.

The Bats, down to their final three outs, wouldn’t go down without a fight as Toledo called on lefty Andrew Vasquez (L, 3-1) to close out the game. Burdick reached on an error to put pressure on Vasquez immediately, and P.J. Higgins followed with his 17^th double of the year to break up the no-hitter and put runners on second and third for Wynns. The catcher took advantage, lifting a 3-run shot to right field to deliver a walk-off 4-2 win.

Meadows led off the second game with a triple for Toledo against Bats starter Alan Busenitz and scored on a sacrifice fly by Vilade to give the Mud Hens an early 1-0 lead. Toledo added another run in the top of the second after Dillon Dingler led off with a single and eventually came around to score on a fielder’s choice, increasing their lead to 2-0.

In the bottom of the frame, Edwin Ríos hit what the ballpark thought was a solo home run just inside the left field foul pole, but the call was overturned to a foul ball by the umpiring crew and ultimately led to Bats manager Pat Kelly being ejected. Ríos ended up reaching on an infield hit, followed by a Burdick single and a Trautwein walk to load the bases with just one out against Toledo starter Bryce Tassin. Louisville couldn’t capitalize, as González struck out and Livan Soto grounded out to end the threat.

Christian Roa was called on to handle the next two frames. Although he had to pitch around three hits and two walks, Roa posted consecutive zeros to keep the Bats in the game going into the bottom of the fourth. Michael Bienlien replaced Tassin for the Mud Hens in that half and started his night well by recording the first two outs, but Burdick then came up and lifted a no-doubt 482-foot home run to put Louisville on the board and cut the Bats deficit to 2-1.

Next out of the bullpen in the top of the fifth, Alex Young tallied another zero to record his tenth consecutive appearance without allowing a run. In the bottom half, González led off with a double, Soto singled, and Rece Hinds worked a walk to load the bases with no outs against Bienlien. Levi Jordan then grounded into a force out at home and Connor Capel struck out to put the Mud Hens on the verge of getting out of the jam, but Higgins picked his teammates up with an RBI walk to tie the game at two.

Casey Legumina pitched a scoreless inning in the sixth to keep the game tied, but the Bats couldn’t take advantage in the bottom half. In the seventh, Tony Santillan came on looking to give the Bats the opportunity at another walk-off, and he worked around some traffic to post a tally a zero and provide that for Louisville. At the plate, Hinds worked a walk to put the winning run on base, but the Bats couldn’t get him home and the game headed to extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, the Mud Hens scored their designated runner on a sacrifice fly against Justin Bruihl (W, 4-0) to take a 3-2 lead. In the Bats half, Ríos responded with a double down the right field line to tie the game vs. Toledo reliever Andrew Magno (L,0-3). The Mud Hens then intentionally walked Burdick, and Pérez came in to pinch-hit and singled to load the bases. González came up next with the chance to be the second hero of the day, and he came through with a sacrifice fly that scored Ríos and clinched the doubleheader sweep.

The Bats continue the series against the Mud Hens tomorrow night, with first pitch set for 7:15 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.