Walk Off Stings Bats In 5-4 Loss

In a back-and-forth game that featured several home runs on each side, the Louisville Bats ultimately couldn’t get the job done in extra innings, suffering a 5-4 loss in 11 innings to the Iowa Cubs on Thursday night at Principal Park.

With the score tied at three in the top of the ninth, Iowa turned to reliever Cam Sanders looking to keep the game tied. But Ivan Johnson turned on the first pitch from Sanders and launched a go-ahead home run over the fence in right-center, giving the Bats their third separate lead of the night at 4-3.

Alan Busenitz was called on in a save situation but couldn’t nail it down. Matt Mervis was hit by a pitch and pinch-hitter Moises Ballesteros singled to put two on with nobody out. A wild pitch put the runners at second and third, and Darius Hill was able to tie the game with a sacrifice fly to center. Busenitz was able to escape with the score tied, stranding the winning run on second and sending the game to extra innings.

Gavin Hollowell navigated around the automatic runner to pitch a scoreless top of the 10^th. Zach Maxwell was able to do the same in the bottom half, striking out a pair on successful challenges to strand the winning run on third.

In the 11^th, the Bats were again turned away quickly by Hollowell (W, 1-0). Leading off the bottom half against new Louisville reliver Evan Kravetz (L, 6-4), Chase Strumpf doubled off the wall in center, scoring Trayce Thompson to give Iowa the walk-off 5-4 win.

The Bats wasted no time in striking first off Iowa starter Connor Noland. Five pitches into the game, Levi Jordan connected on his 10^th home run of the season, a solo blast that just cleared the wall to put his current team ahead against his old one.

Another former I-Cub, Brandon Leibrant, took the mound for the Bats and was stellar for most of the night, working around one-out double for a scoreless bottom of the first. He was able to hold the lead until the third, when Reivaj Garcia tied the game with a solo homer of his own. An inning later, Mervis put the Cubs in front with an opposite field solo homer to left-center.

In the fifth, Francisco Urbaez reached with an infield single. Noland nearly picked him off first. But Urbaez was safe, and the Bats would make Noland pay. Erik Gonzalez followed with a big two-run blast, his sixth of the season, to propel the Bats back in front at 3-2. Leibrandt was able to hold the lead in the bottom half, retiring the Cubs in order with a couple strikeouts and a pop out.

Noland was pulled after five innings, giving up three runs on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts. He left in line for the loss, but the Iowa offense would get him off the hook. Rehabbing Chicago Cubs reliever Jorge Lopez held Louisville off the board in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, another solo home run, this time from Matt Shaw, would bring the Cubs even at 3-3.

Leibrandt struck out three in the sixth, his final inning on the hill. Over six strong innings, Leibrandt gave up the three runs, all on solo homers, while walking none and tying a career-high with 10 strikeouts. The 10-strikeout game was the first by a Bats starter since T.J. Zeuch accomplished the feat on August 2, 2022 at Indianapolis. The double-digit strikeout game is Leibrandt’s first at the Minor League level since his debut season in 2014, when he twice struck out 10 for Class-A Short Season Williamsport.

The battle of the bullpens commenced in the seventh. Riley Martin was sharp for the Cubs, striking out three in the top of the seventh. Iowa then threatened in the bottom half, putting two on with two out before Justus Sheffield fanned Ed Howard to keep the 3-3 tie intact. Martin and Yosver Zulueta did the same in the eighth, sending the game to the ninth.

From there, the teams traded runs in the ninth and zeroes in the 10^th, giving Iowa the chance to win in the 11^th. Despite the loss, the Bats outhit the Cubs 9-6. Urbaez went 3-for-4 with a run scored while Gonzalez drove in two of the four runs with his homer.

The Bats (63-77, 25-41 second half) and Cubs (63-78, 30-36 second half) continue their series on Friday night. First pitch at Principal Park is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.