Bats Split Thursday's Doubleheader With Toledo

Despite a hearty effort, the rain couldn’t wash away the Bats' doubleheader on Thursday evening at Louisville Slugger Field. A one-hour, 29-minute rain delay pushed back game one’s start time against the Toledo Mud Hens. After the rain left and the tarp was removed, Louisville’s Bats remained dormant early.

Fresh off a strong start last Thursday, Jose Acuna retired the Mud Hens in order in the first inning. He worked around trouble in the second but kept the game scoreless entering the third. Bennett Lee led off the third with a double and later scored on a sac-fly by Max Anderson, to give Toledo a 1-0 lead.

P.J. Higgins' single was Louisville’s lone hit through the first three innings as the Mud Hens starter Sawyer Gipson-Long was dominant early.

Acuna allowed one run on four hits and struck out three over three innings of work before giving way to Johnathan Harmon in the fourth.

Harmon struck out two over a scoreless fourth inning before the Bats’ offense created some drama in the bottom half. Gipson-Long walked Juan Brito, Leo Balcazar, and finally Higgins with two outs before giving way to Ricky Vanasco out of the bullpen. Dominic Pitelli grounded out to strand the bases loaded in the Bats' best scoring opportunity yet.

In the fifth, Harmon completely unraveled. He allowed three hits and a walk, which scored two which boosted Toledo’s lead to 3-0. After a mound visit, he walked another batter to load the bases before he was taken out. Zach Maxwell came in and allowed a two-run single before recording the final out of the frame at a 5-0 deficit. Harmon allowed four runs on four hits and struck out two over one and 2/3 innings.

Louisville had just one hit entering the sixth inning when the offense finally broke through. Jay Allen II recorded his first career Triple-A hit, and Leo Balcazar followed that with a single of his own. Two outs later, Higgins stepped to the plate and mashed his first homer of the season. The three-run shot drew Louisville closer to a 5-3 deficit.

Maxwell threw a scoreless sixth and seventh inning to record his longest outing of the season, but the Bats went down quietly in the seventh to seal their fate in the seven-inning contest. Maxwell allowed one hit, walked two, and struck out one over 2.1 innings.

Higgins recorded the lone multi-hit game for Louisville, his first such game since July 12. Maxwell’s two and 1/3 scoreless performance was his longest outing since September 9, 2023, with the Dayton Dragons. Thursday night was Acuna’s third start this season of three innings or less.

The Bats didn’t wait around to score in game two as Edwin Arroyo and Michael Chavis each launched homers in the first inning to give Louisville an early 3-0 lead.

Louisville’s starter Jared Lyons allowed just one hit through two scoreless innings before being roughed up in the third. He allowed a leadoff bunt single before he hung a slider to Seby Zavala, who launched his first homer of the season with Toledo. Two pitches later, Jace Jung smashed a solo shot to quickly tie the game at three.

Lyons settled down with a scoreless fourth for his final inning of the game. He was lifted after allowing three runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts through four innings of work. Anthony Misiewicz, Jonathan Lavallee, and Hunter Parks each worked around base runners in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings but posted scoreless frames.

Louisville was held to two hits and no runs after the first inning and failed to score in the seventh, which forced extra innings. Connor Phillips stranded the automatic runner in the eighth inning for his own scoreless performance.

The Bats loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth for Chavis, who drew a walk to give the Bats the win.

The duo of Arroyo and Chavis combined for four of the Bats' five hits and all four RBI. Misiewicz lowered his ERA to an astounding 2.35, his lowest mark since 2015.

The Bats will face the Mud Hens again on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Field. Louisville’s lefty Ben Wereski (0-1, 11.41) will face southpaw Austin Gomber (0-0, 2.25) for Toledo. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will have the call on Sports Talk 790.