Chiefs comeback not enough in loss to Bats

Louisville, KY (April 21, 2018) - The Syracuse Chiefs came back from a four-run deficit but lost to the Louisville Bats, 8-5, on Saturday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 14,658 at Louisville Slugger Field. Bengie González had two doubles and scored two runs for the Chiefs in the game.

Trailing 5-3 entering the seventh inning, Syracuse (9-5) tied the game. Gonzalez doubled to begin the inning. A Rafael Bautista sacrifice bunt moved Gonzalez to third base with Adrían Sanchez coming to the plate. Sanchez hammered a ball over the left-field wall for a two-run home run that tied the game, 5-5.

Louisville (5-7) scored the game's decisive runs in the bottom of the seventh. With one out and Patrick Kivlehan at second base, Brandon Dixon singled, scoring Kivlehan for a 6-5 lead. Dixon was picked off and caught stealing second base for the second out of the inning. Tony Cruz then singled. Blake Trahan followed with a double, scoring Cruz from first base to make it 7-5. Sebastian Elizalde came in as a pinch hitter and doubled, which scored Trahan for an 8-5 advantage.

The Bats struck first in the game in the bottom of the first inning. Nick Senzel worked a walk, and Rosell Herrera followed with a triple to score Senzel for a 1-0 Bats lead. Patrick Kivlehan followed with a groundout that scored Herrera to give the Bats a 2-0 edge.

Louisville added to their lead in the second. With runners on second and third and one out, Tyler Goeddel grounded out to shortstop, but Tony Cruz scored from third on the play, giving the Bats a 3-0 advantage.

Syracuse got its first run in the top of the third inning. Gonzalez led off with a double. Bautista followed with a triple that scored Gonzalez and cut the deficit to 3-1.

Louisville responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Both Cruz and Trahan had RBI singles to push the Bats' lead to four, 5-1.

The Chiefs began their comeback in the fourth. Alejandro De Aza began the inning with a double that extended his hitting streak to 11 games. De Aza advanced to third base on an Irving Falu groundout. Then, Tuffy Gosewisch singled, scoring De Aza to make it 5-2.

Syracuse scored again in the fifth. Bautista started the frame with a single. Two batters later, with José Marmolejos batting, Bautista stole second base and moved to third on the play because of an errant throw by Cruz, the Louisville catcher. Marmolejos then brought home Bautista with a double to cut the Bats' lead to two, 5-3, before all of the scoring in the seventh inning happened.

The Chiefs and Bats finish their three-game series with a Sunday matinee. César Vargas will be on the mound for Syracuse. First pitch is schedule for 2:00 p.m.