Bats Overpower Syracuse 15-8, Secure Series with Fourth Straight Win

Syracuse, NY — In an explosive offensive effort, every player in the Louisville Bats (25-23) lineup secured a hit, leading to a 15-8 win, securing the series win against the Syracuse Mets (19-30), on Friday evening at NBT Bank Stadium.

[Box Score]

Louisville wasted no time, taking an early lead in the top of the second inning. Matt Reynolds started off the effort with a lead-off single. Following up with a double, TJ Hopkins extended his on-base streak to a season-high 12 games and drove Reynolds in to put the first Bats run on the board for a 1-0 lead.

The Syracuse Mets answered in the bottom half of the inning, combining a few base hits with a home run to take a 3-1 lead.

With a double earlier in the game, Nick Martini continued to stay hot in the lead-off spot by drawing a walk to start the top of the third. Elly De La Cruz followed with a single, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand took advantage of a fielding error by the Mets, reaching second and scoring both runners to tie the game up at 3-3. Jason Vosler drew a walk to continue the inning. Hopkins lined an RBI single to score Encarnacion-Strand and retake the lead for Louisville at 4-3. A single by Michael Siani and a sac fly by Chuckie Robinson combined to score one more for the Bats, who ended the third ahead 5-3.

Martini got things going once again for Louisville in the top of the fourth with a double for his second lead-off hit of the night. De La Cruz then smashed a homer for the second night in a row, his eighth of the season, to strengthen the Bats’ lead at 7-3.

Louisville continued to add on runs, scoring an additional three runs in the top of the fifth on a solo homer by Alejo Lopez, a double by Hopkins, and singles from Robinson and Lopez. With the bases loaded, Siani drew a walk to bring in another run in for the Bats, extending the lead to 11-3.

Righthander Levi Stoudt (2-2, 4.45) pitched a solid game in his eighth start for Louisville this season. Stoudt threw 5.1 innings, giving up just three runs on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout to earn the win.

Syracuse fought back with a home run in the bottom of the seventh and a couple of base hits in the eighth, chipping away at the Bats lead for a score of 11-7 going into the ninth.

Despite the Mets’ late scoring rally, back-to-back dingers in the top of the ninth by De La Cruz, his second of the game, and Encarnacion-Strand increased the Louisville lead to 13-7. Vosler continued the rally, drawing a walk, and then scored on a base hit single from Hopkins, his fifth RBI of the game. Thanks to a double by Francisco Urbaez and a sacrifice groundout by Siani, Louisville ended the ninth with a comfortable lead of 15-7.

Syracuse scored one more in the bottom of the inning but Bats closer Ryan Nutof (1-1, 6.00) was able to secure Louisville’s fourth straight win in the series against the Mets, with a final score of 15-8.

Louisville will play game five of six in the series against Syracuse tomorrow, Saturday, May 27 with first pitch set for 6:35 pm E.T. Bats righthander Brett Kennedy (1-0, 1.80) will take the mound for the Bats, facing Mets lefthander David Peterson (1-1, 2.77).