Storm Chasers Drop Series Opener in Salt Lake 6-5

SOUTH JORDAN, UTAH – The Omaha Storm Chasers made a late comeback attempt but fell short, dropping the series opener to the Salt Lake Bees 6-5.

Salt Lake was first onto the scoreboard, scoring a run in the first on three straight hits against Omaha starter Thomas Hatch, who proceeded to settle down with three scoreless innings, to take him through the fourth.

While the Bees led 1-0 for the first three innings, the Storm Chasers took a lead in the fourth, as Cam Devanney’s eighth home run of the season was a solo shot to the opposite field, for a 1-1 score. Singles from John Rave and Nick Loftin in the fifth inning proceeded to give Omaha a 3-1 lead.

The Chasers’ lead was relatively short lived, as the Bees scored one in the fifth, then three in the sixth to knock Hatch out of the game and take a 5-3 advantage over Omaha. Tyler Tolbert legged out an inside-the-park home run in the top of the seventh, his first homer with Omaha, but after 1.2 innings of one-run ball from reliever Jacob Wallace, the Bees took the run back in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Junior Fernandez.

Tyler Gentry was hit by a pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly from Rave, but Tolbert was stranded on second base as the potential tying run, as Omaha dropped the first game of the series 6-5, unable to complete the comeback.

Tolbert and Loftin each collected two hits in the game, while Jac Caglianone went 1-for-4 in his Triple-A debut, legging out an infield single in the fifth, to stretch his hitting streak to 14 games, including his final 13 contests in Double-A with Northwest Arkansas.

The Storm Chasers will look to bounce back Wednesday, with a. 7:35 p.m. CT first pitch scheduled at The Ballpark at America First Square.