Omaha Drops Second Straight to Louisville in 5-3 Loss
PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers dropped a second straight game to the Louisville Bats, losing 5-3 Friday at Werner Park. In the fourth of a six-game set, the Bats came swinging in the top of the second inning and they took an early 3-0 lead with two hits
PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers dropped a second straight game to the Louisville Bats, losing 5-3 Friday at Werner Park.
In the fourth of a six-game set, the Bats came swinging in the top of the second inning and they took an early 3-0 lead with two hits and a walk to score three off of Omaha starting pitcher Jonathan Bowlan. Louisville added additional runs in the third and fifth innings, both times on a walk and two-out single to grow the lead to 5-0 midway through the fifth.
After 11 scoreless innings going back to Thursday’s game and retired 12 straight to begin Friday’s contest, Omaha got its first three hits in the bottom of the fifth inning as CJ Alexander doubled, Nick Pratto singled him in and Tyler Gentry connected for a two-run homer, cutting the deficit to 5-3. The inning continued as Cam Devanney and John Rave both singled to put two on base with two outs, but the pair were stranded to end the inning with the go-ahead run at the plate.
Bowlan threw 5.2 innings on the night as he left one runner on base with two outs in the top of the sixth to end his night as Colin Selby entered play and retired the last out of the inning. Selby threw a 1-2-3 seventh inning and struck out one in the process, retiring all four batters he faced in the game with two punchouts in 1.1 innings.
Noah Murdock worked around a leadoff single for a scoreless eighth inning and got the first out of the ninth, before Evan Sisk took over on the mound. Sisk picked off the runner he inherited from Murdock and got a strikeout for the final out of the inning to keep the deficit at two runs.
The Chasers produced a pair of singles in the bottom of the ninth, from Devin Mann and Brian O’Keefe, to bring the game-winning run to the plate but both runners were stranded on as a strikeout ended the game, Louisville’s 14th of the night on the mound to end the game 5-3 in the Bats’ favor.
The Storm Chasers continue this week’s series against the Bats Saturday, June 22 as first pitch will be 6:05 p.m. CT and right-handed pitcher Chandler Champlain is slated to start for Omaha.