Bats Out-Blasted By Storm Chasers In 15-5 Loss
The Omaha Storm Chasers came out attacking early and often, handing the Louisville Bats a 15-5 loss in the second game of their season-ending six-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field. Making his fourth start for Louisville, Jose Acuna made quick work of the Storm Chasers in the
The Omaha Storm Chasers came out attacking early and often, handing the Louisville Bats a 15-5 loss in the second game of their season-ending six-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
Making his fourth start for Louisville, Jose Acuna made quick work of the Storm Chasers in the first. The Bats threatened in the bottom of the frame as two infield singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs against Noah Cameron. The Omaha lefty got through the frame by inducing a ground out from Tyler Callihan to end a scoreless frame.
Omaha opened the scoring on an RBI single from Ryan Fitzgerald in the top of the second. An inning later, the visitors would break the game open for good. Brian O’Keefe made it 5-0 with a three-run homer. A two-out double would bring an end to Acuna’s start after 2.2 innings. Connor Overton entered and struggled to get the third out. He allowed a couple run-scoring hits, hit a batter, and John Rave capped a nine-run inning with a three-run homer to right for a 10-0 lead. O’Keefe’s second home run of the game made it 12-0 in the fourth.
Cameron departed after four scoreless innings before the Bats finally broke through against the Omaha bullpen. Facing Anthony Simonelli in the sixth, Callihan led off the inning with his first Triple-A home run, a 418-foot solo shot onto the roof of the Humana Cabana in right. Francisco Urbaez doubled and moved to third on a ground out. With one out and Urbaez on third, Erik Gonzalez hit a pop up into shallow right field that was caught by first baseman Nick Pratto on the outfield grass. Urbaez alertly sprinted for the plate and scored, giving Gonzalez a pop up to second base. Jacob Hurtubise extended the inning with a single and Nick Martini walked to put two on. Levi Jordan then got the Bats a little closer with an opposite field three-run shot also to the roof of the Humana Cabana in right, his 11th of the season, to make it 12-5.
Tyler Gentry capped the Strom Chasers’ scoring with a three-run homer to left-center, restoring their double-digit lead at 15-5 against rehabbing Cincinnati Reds righty Ian Giabut.
Reiver Sanmartin and Zach Maxwell each threw 1.1 clean innings out of the Louisville bullpen. Backup catcher Eric Yang took the mound for the Bats in the ninth and tossed a scoreless inning, his fifth clean outing as a pitcher for the season.
Jordan led the way for the Bats offense, going 3-for-4 with a double, home run, and three RBI while finishing a triple shy of the cycle. In his Triple-A debut, Callihan went 2-for-5 with a home run while Urbaez and Davis Wendzel each got a couple hits in the loss. Acuna (L, 0-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up six runs on six hits over 2.2 innings with one strikeout.
The Storm Chasers were led by two homers and five RBI from O’Keefe, while seven players recorded a multi-hit game in the win. Reliever Jonathan Bowlan (W, 11-4) earned the win with 1.1 scoreless innings out of the Omaha bullpen.
The Bats (64-81, 26-45 second half) and Storm Chasers (88-56, 39-32 second half) continue the series on Thursday evening. First pitch at Louisville Slugger Field is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.