Bats Split Both Doubleheader and Series Against Indianapolis

The Louisville Bats split the final two games of their series in a doubleheader against the Indianapolis Indians on Sunday afternoon, losing the first game 10-7, but rallying back for a 5-3 win to split the series against their regional rivals.

In game one, Chase Petty had a rocky start, allowing two hits on the first two pitches. Esmerlyn Valdez laced a single into left five pitches later to knock in the first two runs. Petty forced a popout, and Will Banfield gunned down Valdez at second on a steal attempt for two quick outs. However, a pitch too far inside clipped Davis Wendzel, then Rafael Flores Jr. went big fly to put the Indians up 4-0 after one frame.

Petty (L, 2-4) settled in with a scoreless second, allowing only a walk and striking out his first batter in the top half. Michael Chavis got the Bats on the board in the bottom half, just eclipsing the left field wall for his team-leading 10th home run of the season, cutting the lead to 4-1.

The Indians were unfazed by Chavis’s homer, putting two men on with the first two batters of the third. With runners at the corners, Flores Jr. quickly notched his third RBI of the day, plating a run on a ground out. Dominic Fletcher one-upped him the next at-bat, flying the second Indianapolis homer of the game to right field to make it 7-1. Petty finished his outing after three innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Lyon Richardson limited the damage with two strikeouts and a scoreless fourth for Louisville. The Bats loaded the bases on Indy starter Nick Dombkowski in the bottom frame, but their effort looked to be snuffed out after Ivan Johnson lined into a double play with Toglia called out at second. However, Francisco Urbaez still took advantage of the opportunity, smacking a double off the left field wall that scored Chavis and Noelvi Marte, making it 7-3 Indians after four.

Yet again, the Indians responded to Louisville’s play at a comeback with both of the first two batters reaching base in the fifth. After Richardson recorded his third strikeout, Fletcher roped a triple down the right field line to score two more runs. Termarr Johnson flew a sacrifice fly out to left the next at-bat, giving Indy a 10-3 lead.

Caleb Ferguson and Kyle Nicolas each followed Richardson with a scoreless inning, but the Bats' offense had a difficult time generating anything against Indy reliever Wilber Dotel (W, 3-3), who allowed just one hit through the fifth and sixth innings.

Louisville went for a rally in the seventh, and got started on the right foot after Garrett Hampson muscled a two-run homer to center field for his first of the year. A Hector Rodriguez single brought up Michael Toglia, who doubled to plate Rodriguez with two outs. Chavis plated Toglia on a single to make it 10-7, but Johnson flew out to take the first loss of the day for the Bats.

Rodriguez, Marte, Chavis, and Toglia each recorded multiple hits in the loss, while Fletcher finished a double shy of the cycle for the Indians.

Brandon Leibrandt (W, 1-2) began game two on the mound for Louisville and gave up a quick solo home run to Ronny Simon, the second batter of the game. Leibrandt rebounded with a strikeout, but then let up another solo homer to Esmerlyn Valdez, giving Indianapolis a swift 2-0 lead after the first.

Edwin Arroyo and Noelvi Marte each hit singles in the bottom frame, but a base-running blunder by Arroyo resulted in a double play on a popout from Toglia to keep the Bats scoreless. However, the Bats tacked on their first runs in the second, with Hampson lining a single with bases loaded to tie the game at 2-2.

Despite the early damage, Leibrandt worked four scoreless innings in a row to keep Indy’s offense limited. The Bats had their own struggles on the offensive end, going hitless through the fourth inning since Hampson’s RBI single.

Louisville claimed its first lead of the entire day in the fifth after Arroyo led off the inning with a single and a stolen base off former Bat Joe La Sorsa (L, 1-1). Rodriguez sent Arroyo home six pitches later, sending a double into the right-center gap to give the Bats the lead. A one-run lead wasn’t enough for Noelvi Marte, who pulled a ball over the left field fence to widen the lead to 5-2.

Hunter Parks made his first appearance for the Bats this season in the sixth, but quickly let up a double to Jhostynxon Garcia. He retired the next two batters, but Enmanuel Valdez was able to convert on the runner in scoring position, driving his own double to score Garcia. Anthony Misiewicz relieved Parks after a walk, and struck out the next batter to keep a 5-3 lead.

Yunior Marte (SV, 4) entered the game in the seventh and worked a clean inning to secure the win and earn the save. Noelvi Marte and Hampson led the way with two RBIs each, while Leibrandt earned his first win of the season, and his first Bats win since August 8, 2024.

The Bats (26-19) will travel to face the Columbus Clippers for the first time this season in a six-game series. The series will open on Tuesday, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. EST at Huntington Park. Nick Curran will be on the call for Sports Talk 790-AM.