Bats, I-Cubs End Series With Unusual Tie
After a series that has seen almost everything, the Louisville Bats come out of the series finale against the Iowa Cubs in a 4-4 tie at Louisville Slugger Field on Sunday afternoon. A five-spot in the 10th gave Iowa a 9-4 lead, but the game would be called after a
After a series that has seen almost everything, the Louisville Bats come out of the series finale against the Iowa Cubs in a 4-4 tie at Louisville Slugger Field on Sunday afternoon.
A five-spot in the 10th gave Iowa a 9-4 lead, but the game would be called after a lengthy delay with the score 4-4. As it is the last game between the two teams for the year, and because the Bats did not get the chance to come to the plate at the bottom of the 10th, the score reverts to the last completed inning, with the score tied 4-4 after nine.
During the first third of the game, the Bats' starter Brandon Leibrandt and Cubs’ starter Doug Nikhazy were battling it out, with neither giving any ground to the other. Each starter allowed just one hit through the first three innings of the contest.
In the fourth, however, Louisville finally got to the Iowa arm. Francisco Urbaez singled to left field, and Hector Rodriguez blasted a 427-foot homer to break the scoring drought, putting the Bats up 2-0.
Leibrandt ran into some trouble early in the sixth, having two runners on first and second with one out. Leibrandt struck out the next batter he saw, and Pat Kelly made a call to the bullpen to right-hander Trevor Kuncl, who got out of the inning with no damage. Leibrandt finished with an impressive line, boasting 5.2 innings pitched, allowing only two hits, and striking out five.
In the home half of the same inning, Louisville threatened the same way Iowa did just a half inning before. With two on and one out, the Iowa defense stepped up and got out of the inning without giving up any runs.
After a clean inning by Kuncl, Michael Chavis roped a single to left field before Austin Hendrick took flight, launching his fourth home run of the year, giving the Bats some insurance and putting them up 4-0 in the seventh.
Iowa finally got on the board in the eighth with a single by Chas McCormick. A wild pitch scored another, and with two outs, James Triantos drove in the game-tying runs on a single to knot the game up at four. Sam Benschoter struck out the next batter, as the end of the contest became a lot tighter than the Louisville crowd thought it would.
Iowa put the pressure on in the ninth, loading the bases with nobody out. After striking out one, a liner to Dominic Pitelli and a ground out to Trey Faltine got the Bats out of the jam miraculously with no damage.
The Bats would fail to walk it off in their half of the ninth, and the game would go to extras. From there, Darren McCaughan came into the game, and Iowa jumped on him early. A three-run home run by Triantos gave Iowa the lead over Louisville for the first time in the game.
McCaughan would be pulled shortly after, but Iowa continued to pour it on. A single allowed by Jared Lyons continued the big inning, followed by a two-RBI single to left field by Justin Dean. Lyons secured three outs in a row after that, and the game went into a delay shortly thereafter, where it would later be called a tie.
Before the game was called, the Bats had key individual performances. Rodriguez and Hendricks both went deep, and the Leibrandt/Kuncl duo pitched a combined 7.0 innings, allowing no runs on two hits, striking out six. There is no winning and losing pitcher, as the game ended in a 4-4 tie.
The Bats (36-30) end the series against the I-Cubs (27-39) and travel down to Gwinnett to take on the Stripers. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. EST at Gwinnett Field. Nick Curran will be on the call on Sports Talk 790.