Palacios homers twice in loss

PAPILLION, Neb. – Despite two home runs and four RBI from Jermaine Palacios, the Toledo Mud Hens fell to the Omaha Storm Chasers, 16-7, on Wednesday night (May 17) at Werner Park.

Zach Logue (1-3) made the start for the Mud Hens while Daniel Lynch (1-0) took the mound for the Storm Chasers

The Mud Hens struck first in the top of the first inning, with an RBI single by Andre Lipcius scoring Parker Meadows to give the Hens a 1-0 lead.

Omaha countered immediately in the bottom of the first inning. After a leadoff single by Drew Waters, Samad Taylor hit a two-run home run into right field to give the Storm Chasers a 2-1 advantage. Tyler Gentry reached on a fielding error, and Logan Porter drove him in with a two-run home run, stretching the Omaha lead to 4-1. Later in the inning, Clay Dungan drove in Nick Loftin with an RBI single. Matt Wisler replaced Logue with two outs in the inning, and Waters hit a two-run double to extend the lead to six runs.

In the top of the second, Michael Papierski got on base with a leadoff single before Palacios drove him in with a long home run to deep left-center field.

After Wisler held the Storm Chasers scoreless in the bottom of the second, Tyler Nevin, Andrew Knapp and Paperiski all hit singles in the top of the third inning to tack on one more run, reducing Toledo’s deficit to 7-4.

In the bottom of the third inning, Seth Elledge replaced Wisler on the mound to make his Mud Hens debut.

Meadows hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning to pull the Hens within two runs.

After giving up a double to Taylor, Elledge was replaced by Miguel Del Pozo with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Taylor scored from second on a throwing error before Del Pozo retired the next two batters to end the inning.

The Storm Chasers added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run home run by Angelo Castellano, bringing their lead to 10-5.

The Mud Hens were held scoreless in the top of the sixth, and Porter hit an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to score Taylor and increase the Omaha lead to six runs. Jackson Reetz hit an RBI double later in the inning, bringing the Omaha lead to 12-5.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Gentry hit a two-RBI single to put the Storm Chasers ahead, 14-5.

Toledo showed some life in the top of the eighth inning, as Palacios hit his second run home run of the game to cut the deficit to 14-7.

A double by Dungan in the bottom of the eighth scored Dairon Blanco, bringing Omaha’s advantage to 15-7. Castellano followed up with a double of his own, scoring Dungan to put the Mud Hens behind by nine runs.

The Mud Hens scored one run off an RBI double by Lipcius but were unable to threaten the Storm Chasers down the stretch, taking a 16-7 loss. Reliever Walter Pennington earned the win for the Storm Chasers while Zach Logue took the loss for the Mud Hens.

Up next, the Mud Hens will take on the Strom Chasers again on Thursday, May 18. First pitch is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET from Werner Park in Papillion, Neb.

NOTABLES:

• Parker Meadows: 2-5, 2 R, HR, RBI
• Tyler Nevin: 3-5, R
• Andre Lipcius: 2-4, R, RBI, BB
• Andrew Knapp: 2-5, RBI
• Michael Papierski: 3-5, 2 R, RBI
• Jermaine Palacios: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
• Matt Wisler: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K