Bats Lose 8–7 on Omaha Walk-Off

The Louisville Bats made a last-gasp effort to take the lead in the ninth, but were defeated 8-7 by a walkoff from the Omaha Storm Chasers at Werner Park on Thursday night.

Down to their last out, Blake Dunn came to the plate with two runners in scoring position in the ninth. Dunn capitalized, lining a hard line drive for a single to tie the game at 6-6. Edwin Arroyo wasn’t satisfied with the tie, lining a triple into deep right-center field to take a 7-6 lead to end the frame.

Trevor Kuncl (L, 1-1) was tasked with holding off the Storm Chasers in the bottom half, and looked to be on track to do so by retiring the first two batters he faced. However, Kuncl let up three straight singles, capped off by a walk-off ground ball to Drew Waters to send the Bats home in heartbreak.

After a scoreless first from both teams, the Bats crossed the first runs of the game in the second. Michael Toglia began the inning with a walk, followed by consecutive singles by Francisco Urbaez and Ivan Johnson. P.J. Higgins delivered with bases loaded, lining a fly ball to left field to plate Toglia on a sacrifice fly. One pitch later, Dayne Leonard knocked in Urbaez with a single to give Louisville a 2-0 lead.

Brandon Leibrandt took the bump for the Bats and held the Storm Chasers scoreless through the first three innings. The Bats looked for extra damage in the fourth to add some insurance. Urbaez looped his second hit of the game into center field, and Higgins walked with one out. However, Leonard grounded into a double play to end the top half.

Leibrandt gave up his second hit of the game in the fourth, but stranded the runner on second to protect the Bats' lead. Dunn reached to open the fifth, but Omaha turned their third double play of the evening to limit any extra offense.

Leibrandt continued his scoreless outing at the beginning of the fifth, retiring two batters after allowing a walk. However, John Rave capitalized on a hanging slider and slugged a home run to knot the game up at 2-2.

Ivan Johnson didn’t let that tie last long. After Urbaez singled for his third hit of the game, Johnson hammered a home run on a 3-1 count to put the Bats up 4-2 after the top of the sixth. Leibrandt helped keep the lead intact and retired three straight, finalizing his night at two runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts through six innings.

Lyon Richardson relieved Leibrandt in the seventh, but not without Omaha putting up a score. Abraham Toro opened the inning with a triple and was quickly brought home on a groundout to cut the margin to 4-3. Richardson escaped the inning with the lead still with the Bats.

Kyle Nicolas (BS, 1) followed Richardson in the eighth and retired the first out via a lineout. He showed some control issues while walking the next two batters, prompting a mound visit. Despite the break, Nicolas faced disaster against Luca Tresh, who smacked a three-run home run the opposite way to give the Storm Chasers a 6-4 lead. After another walk, Nicolas was replaced by Tejay Antone, who retired the next two batters.

Urbaez recorded a hit in each at-bat for the Bats, while Johnson delivered the only other multi-hit performance. Antone was the lone Louisville pitcher with a scoreless outing, while both Kuncl and Nicolas were credited with a blown save.

The Bats (18-12) continue their road trip to face off against the Omaha Storm Chasers (13-16) on Friday evening. First pitch is set for 7:35 p.m. EST at Werner Park. Nick Curran will be on the call for Sports Talk 790-AM.