Bats Drop Finale 8-5 to Columbus on Sunday
LOUISVILLE, KY. – Juniel Querecuto homered for the third straight day and Stephen Piscotty finished a triple shy of the cycle, but the Louisville Bats (54-81) dropped game six 8-5 to the Columbus Clippers (78-55) on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field. [Box Score] Columbus struck first, scoring a run
LOUISVILLE, KY. – Juniel Querecuto homered for the third straight day and Stephen Piscotty finished a triple shy of the cycle, but the Louisville Bats (54-81) dropped game six 8-5 to the Columbus Clippers (78-55) on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
Columbus struck first, scoring a run on a double steal in the opening frame of the game to take a 1-0 lead.
Hunter Greene (0-0, 2.57) made his third rehab start with Louisville, tossing 3.0 innings of one run baseball, allowing four hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Robert Dugger also made a rehab appearance, his first, tossing 1.0 inning in relief, tallying two strikeouts.
The Bats finally broke through into the score column in the fourth inning. Juniel Querecuto reached base on a one out single before Stephen Piscotty brought him home with a two-run homer with two outs to put Louisville ahead 2-1.
Columbus answered in the next half inning, putting up four runs courtesy of a grand slam to retake the lead 5-2 before adding another run in the sixth to extend their lead to 6-2.
Louisville answered in the bottom of the sixth. Cristian Santana drew a leadoff walk and was later brought home on an RBI double off the bat of Stephen Piscotty to cut into the deficit at 6-3.
With one out in the eighth inning, Querecuto belted a solo home run, his third in three straight games. TJ Hopkins singled in the next at-bat, followed by back-to-back walks of Michael De Leon and Isiah Gilliam to load the bases, but the Bats couldn’t bring any more runs across the plate as they got back within two at 6-4.
Columbus put up two more insurance runs on two run home run in the top of the ninth, making one final push to an 8-4 lead.
Lorenzo Cedrola drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth and worked his way around to score, but that’s the only run Louisville would get in the inning, falling 8-5.
Stephen Piscotty led Louisville’s offensive effort, going 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, home run, three runs batted in and a run scored, finishing the day a triple shy of the cycle.
The Bats will enjoy a scheduled day off on Monday, September 12 before traveling to St. Paul for a six-game series with the Saints. Game one is set for Tuesday, September 13 with first pitch at 8:07 pm E.T.