Early Explosion Leads Louisville To 10-5 Triumph Over Iowa

The Louisville Bats took charge early and held strong in a 10-5 victory over the Iowa Cubs on Thursday evening at Slugger Field.

Louisville extended its home run streak to 22 consecutive games with a three-run shot from Rece Hinds. On the rubber, Bats pitching dominated, keeping Iowa to just two earned runs to help Louisville get back to a season-high nine games over .500.

Thanks to a home run by Alexander Canario, Iowa took an early lead of 1-0 in the top of the first off Bats righty Brandon Leibrant. Following a quiet first frame, the Louisville lineup got to work in the bottom of the second. Edwin Ríos was hit by a pitch and Levi Jordan reached on a fielder’s choice. Ríos advanced to second on an error by I-Cubs second baseman Hayden Cantrelle. Hernán Pérez singled to load the bases for Erik González, who smacked an RBI double into left to give the Bats a 3-1 advantage.

Blake Dunn kept the rally going, reaching after being hit by a pitch. Rece Hinds then walked to load the bases, and a wild pitch from Iowa’s righthanded starter Chris Clarke (L, 1-2) allowed another run to score. P.J. Higgins closed out the second with an RBI single, bringing the Louisville lead to 6-1.

The Bats kicked off another scoring burst in the bottom of the third, led by a single from Pérez. González followed up with a base hit single and advanced to second on a throwing error by I-Cubs third baseman David Bote. Pérez scored on the play, putting the tally at 7-1. Dunn then drew a walk to set up Hinds, who smashed a three-run homer. Hinds’ 417-foot longball propelled Louisville ahead 10-1.

Iowa gained one back in the top of the sixth on Canario’s second solo home run of the game. The I-Cubs threatened to score once more, but centerfielder Peyton Burdick made a leaping catch at the wall to hold Iowa off at 10-2. In the top of the seventh, the I-Cubs fought back again, taking advantage of a double by Ali Sánchez and two fielding errors to cut the Bats’ lead in half at 10-5.

Leibrandt (W, 1-0) sparkled in his second game with the team, allowing just two earned runs and recording two strikeouts in six innings of work while claiming his first win of the season.

Higgins, Pérez, and González all tallied multi-hit games for the Bats at the plate, and Hinds extended his on-base streak to 15 games with the homer.

Louisville (31-22) will continue the series in their final game of the month on Friday, May 31 against Iowa (24-30) at Slugger Field. With the first pitch set for 7:15 p.m., Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.